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The In Brief version of the FAO flagship publication, the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022, contains the key messages and main points from the publication and is aimed at the media, policy makers and a more general public.The following complementary information is available:See the interactive storyRead the full report

This year’s report should dispel any lingering doubts that the world is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms. We are now only eight years away from 2030, but the distance to reach many of the SDG 2 targets is growing wider each year. There are indeed efforts to make progress towards SDG 2, yet they are proving insufficient in the face of a more challenging and uncertain context. The intensification of the major drivers behind recent food insecurity and malnutrition trends (i.e. conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks) combined with [...]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warn that acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in 20 countries or situations (including two regional clusters) – called hunger hotspots – during the outlook period from June to September 2022. Acute food insecurity globally continues to escalate. The recently published 2022 Global Report on Food Crises alerts that 193 million people were facing Crisis or worse (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification [IPC]/Cadre Harmonisé [CH] Phase 3 or above) across 53 countries or territories in 2021. This increase must be interpreted with care, [...]

This brief summarizes the findings of the FAO Agricultural Development Economics Technical Study No. 16 “Productive public investment in agriculture for economic recovery with rural well-being: an analysis of prospective scenarios for Uganda”. It highlights how, through a series of scenarios, public investments promoting agricultural productivity in Uganda could drive growth in agrifood production, with favourable impacts on the economy, on well-being and on poverty, especially in rural areas. It also provides important information about the priorities of Uganda’s National Development Plan (NDP) III and vision for agriculture, as well as new priorities to be considered for enabling economic recovery [...]

Los efectos de la crisis generada por la pandemia del coronavirus siguen evolucionando y golpeando con fuerza a nuestras sociedades. En el caso de América Latina y El Caribe (ALC), la tenencia de la tierra se encuentra en el corazón de su desarrollo; este tema como ningún otro ha provocado guerras, desplazamientos, conflictos sociales, corrupción, hambre y pobreza. Particularmente, la extrema desigualdad en el acceso y control de la tierra es uno de los grandes problemas sin resolver en ALC; es al mismo tiempo causa y consecuencia de estructuras sociales enormemente polarizadas que han alimentado y siguen alimentando las crisis políticas [...]

Acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in 20 countries or situations – hunger hotspots – in the next months. Organized violence or conflict remain the primary drivers, followed by weather extremes and climate variability. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt economies. High food prices and low household purchasing power are major economic concerns for food insecurity rising. The report provides country-specific recommendations on priorities for emergency response and anticipatory action to address existing humanitarian needs and ensure short-term protective interventions before new needs materialize.

The 2022 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC 2022) highlights the remarkably high severity and numbers of people in Crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) or equivalent in 53 countries/territories, driven by persistent conflict, pre-existing and COVID-19-related economic shocks, and weather extremes. The number identified in the 2022 edition is the highest in the report’s six-year existence. The report is produced by the Global Network against Food Crises (which includes WFP), an international alliance working to address the root causes of extreme hunger.

The dairy sector is an example of the challenges that food supply chains have faced due to COVID-19. The pandemic has impacted the sector depending on countries’ trade profiles, per capita income, and market structure. The study reveals that the pandemic has accelerated on-going structural changes taking place in the dairy sector. Despite the preliminary nature of the results, they provide important insights to inform sectorial policy discussions.

Acknowledging the zoonotic nature of SARS-CoV-2, investigations about potential animal hosts are of great importance to improve understanding of COVID-19 epidemiology and identify susceptible animal species as well as possible transmission between humans and animals. Positive findings by a polymerase chain reaction in dogs, cats, farmed mink, and wild feline in zoos have raised concerns about the possible role livestock and companion animals could play in the amplification and spread of the virus. Several studies looking at the binding affinity of SARS-CoV-2 receptor in different animal species hypothesized a probable wide range of animal hosts especially mammals. Field studies need to [...]

Dromedary camels are the main reservoir for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Genetic analysis of MERS-CoV isolates from humans and dromedaries revealed that direction of transmission is from camels to humans. Furthermore, several studies reported evidence of camel infection by other human CoVs, animal CoVs or unknown coronaviruses. There is evidence of recombination between different betacoronaviruses in camels. Analysis of the Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 receptor (ACE2) binding in dromedaries predicted potential binding affinity to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) receptor binding domain (RBD), however some other studies predicted the contrary. With the pandemic spread of [...]