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The 2020 report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the Asia and Pacific region, provides an update on progress towards the 2030 targets (SDGs and WHA) at the regional and country level. Selected indicators look at undernourishment, food insecurity, childhood stunting, wasting and overweight, adult overweight, child minimum acceptable diet, exclusive and continued breastfeeding, and anaemia in women and children. While the region continues to work towards ending all forms of malnutrition and achieving Zero Hunger, progress on food security and nutrition has slowed, and the Asia and Pacific region is not on track to achieving 2030 targets. [...]

The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. It consists of the average of five commodity group price indices weighted by the average export shares of each of the groups over 2014-2016. A feature article published in the June 2020 edition of the Food Outlook presents the revision of the base period for the calculation of the FFPI and the expansion of its price coverage, to be introduced from July 2020. A November 2013 article contains technical background on the previous construction of the FFPI.Monthly release [...]

This third edition of the State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries provides a comprehensive overview of the status of fisheries in the region, looking at their main features and trends, in order to better inform their management and better examine current and future challenges that they will face in the near future. The aim of this report is to produce a document that could provide useful analysis and direction for decision-making and future action. In this respect, this publication also represents a convenient source of information for the FAO Committee on Fisheries and offers a practical complement to the [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified development challenges across Europe and Central Asia, generating ever more demand for rapid, accessible and reliable data to guide decision-making. The evolving pandemic and associated economic crisis are impacting food security and jeopardizing countries’ progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Identifying and evaluating the multi-faceted impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the food security situation requires real-time, quality information that enables the measurement of changes in people’s access to food and an assessment of the underlying causes.See the full list of policy briefs related to COVID-19.

There were seven confirmed local cases of COVID-19 in Beijing on 11 and 12 June 2020. Epidemiological investigations confirmed that all cases were related to the Beijing Xinfadi Agricultural Produce Wholesale Market. The market supplies 80 percent of Beijing’s demand for agricultural products. Notably, it accounts for roughly 70 percent of Beijing’s market for vegetables. On 13 June, the Xinfadi market and some other markets with COVID-19 cases connected with Xinfadi were temporarily closed. Measures including nucleic acid testing, environment sampling, isolation of close contacts and closed management (controlled entry and exit) of the relevant communities were implemented. Meanwhile, to [...]

This document summarizes the online discussion Near-real-time monitoring of food crisis risk factors for improved early warning early action, held at the FAO Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum) from 16 September to 18 October 2020. The discussion was facilitated by Betina Dimaranan of the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).This online discussion followed up on a recent Food Security Portal webinar that took stock of the advances in tools and approaches for real-time monitoring of food crisis risk factors in early warning early action systems. The discussion was one [...]

By analyzing agri-food value chains, policy makers and researchers are able to better understand how economic, social and environmental dimensions are intertwined. This is an important step, which allows for identification of areas for potential improvement along an agri-food value chain. EX-ACT Value Chain (EX-ACT VC) is derived from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) EX-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT). The tool is based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methodology to account for GHG emissions of primary agricultural production, augmented with methodologies from peer reviewed literature to cover the remaining sectors and actors in [...]

Las metas de la Agenda 2030 de Desarrollo Sostenible relacionadas con la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición no podrán alcanzarse mientras en algunos territorios de América Latina y el Caribe sigan viviendo poblaciones con niveles de malnutrición que, como mínimo, duplican los promedios nacionales. A menudo, las oportunidades económicas en estos lugares son limitadas, la presencia de servicios públicos es escasa y la exposición a eventos climáticos severos es elevada. Precisamente, es en estos territorios históricamente rezagados donde las políticas públicas impulsadas en la región han mostrado un menor impacto y donde es apremiante generar una nueva agenda de instrumentos [...]

The text provides a description, analysis and perspectives of the traditional supply and marketing channels in the face of the pandemic. It identifies its main challenges, the contingency measures adopted by governments and the channels themselves. In addition, it delves into the effects and impacts of the pandemic on these commercial circuits, workers, among others. Finally, it summarizes the innovation and adaptation measures against COVID-19 and makes suggestions for modernization. Also available in Spanish. See more COVID-19 policy resources here.

Despite relatively high economic growth rates in many developing countries in the last two decades, income inequality has remained high and even increased. This has important policy implications as high-income inequality undercuts the benefits of economic growth in reducing food insecurity. This paper uses the 2014 Gallup World Poll (GWP) dataset of individual food insecurity based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) and employs a three-level linear probability model to assess the macro-economic effects of economic growth and income inequality on individual food insecurity. Results show that increases in the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita are concurrent with declines [...]