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The Banana Market Review is issued on an annual basis to Members and Observers of the Sub-Group on Bananas of the Intergovernmental Group on Bananas and Tropical Fruits, and it offers a comprehensive overview of previous-year developments in banana trade. It is prepared by the Team on Responsible Global Value Chains, Markets and Trade Division, FAO, which provides research and analyses on global value chains for agricultural commodities, and economic data and analyses on tropical fruits.

A healthy diet of fresh vegetables, proteins and fruit is a key ingredient for eliminating hunger and all forms of malnutrition and achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger by 2030. Unfortunately, a healthy diet has become an unaffordable luxury for close to 1 billion Africans, according to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 report.Globally, the cost of a healthy diet is above the international poverty line, meaning that people earning less than US$1.90 per day cannot afford to eat adequate calories and nutrients from diverse food groups. Compared to other regions, this affordability crisis [...]

Africa is not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 targets to end hunger and ensure access by all people to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food all year round and to end all forms of malnutrition. The number of hungry people on the continent has risen by 47.9 million since 2014 and now stands at 250.3 million, or nearly one-fifth of the population. The 2017, 2018 and 2019 editions of this report explain that this gradual deterioration of food security was due to conflict, weather extremes, and economic slowdowns and downturns, often overlapping. A continued worsening of [...]

This assessment, undertaken in November 2020, is a follow-up to the initial assessment undertaken in April 2020, and used the same methodology. This present paper provides a summary of responses to questionnaires circulated to regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and regional fisheries advisory bodies (RFABs) to determine the impacts of restrictions imposed by COVID-19, upon the management, production and supply of fisheries products from capture fisheries and aquaculture. Comparisons are made between the responses given in April 2020 in the early phase of the pandemic, and those given in November 2020, some seven months later. The objective is to provide [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken by governments on social distancing and mobility restrictions have contributed to boosting the use of digital technology to bridge some of the physical access gaps. An increasing number of services and extension/information activities are delivered through digital tools and applications. E-commerce has also flourished. As a result, the potential of digital technologies has gained prominence in immediate response and recovery strategies and programmes.See the full list of policy briefs related to COVID-19.

In recent years, several major drivers have put the world off track to ending world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. The challenges have grown with the COVID-19 pandemic and related containment measures. This report presents the first global assessment of food insecurity and malnutrition for 2020 and offers some indication of what hunger might look like by 2030 in a scenario further complicated by the enduring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes new estimates of the cost and affordability of healthy diets, which provide an important link between the food security and nutrition indicators [...]

Parliamentarians are agents of change, and their role is critical to ensure a world where all people are eating healthy diets from sustainable, inclusive, and resilient agri-food systems. Members of the Parliament hold a strategic position as they can shape policies and actions for improving food availability, accessibility, and affordability for all people, especially the most vulnerable, to ensure their food security and good nutrition for health and wellbeing. Objectives that are more important than ever in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic.This handbook is addressed to Parliamentarians to support them in adopting domestic legislation, approving budget allocations, and [...]

Against the background of fast expanding trade and a surge in food import bills, which has come to characterise much of developments shaping global food markets in 2020/21, early forecasts for 2021/22 point to resilient food trade and a continuation of strong international prices amidst many supply and demand uncertainties.This report provides supply and demand forecasts for basic foodstuffs, fish and fishery products along with price analysis and policy information. The report’s special feature of this report puts recent trends in global food trade under the spotlight, with particular focus on how commodity flows have measured-up during the COVID-19 pandemic. [...]

Neither agriculture nor social protection alone can address all the constraints faced by poor rural households. Combined interventions are shown to have greater impacts than stand-alone interventions in assisting vulnerable populations to combat poverty and providing them with productive means to sustainably move out of poverty. The complementarity can also contribute to increasing the resilience of households in the face of external shocks, such as the one we are currently facing as a result of COVID-19.

This note provides an overview of available evidence on return migration to rural areas due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the related implications for migrant workers and their families and communities of origin, as well as government response measures that have been taken.The inclusion of returnees and consideration of their socio-economic needs in the COVID-19 response and recovery measures is essential, regardless of registration of residence, migratory or working status. The immediate vulnerabilities of rural returnees and their families need to be addressed, while also investing in medium-to-long-term socio-economic objectives, to allow those who want to stay in rural areas to [...]