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The Iran war: Potential food security impacts

• by Joseph Glauber

The attack on Iran by U.S. and Israeli forces and Iranian retaliation against U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf have roiled energy markets by disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz—the Gulf’s only sea passage to the open ocean. About 27% of the world’s oil exports, 20% of global liquified natural gas (LNG) exports, and 20%-30% of global fertilizer exports, including urea, ammonia, phosphates, and sulfur, pass through the Strait.

Financial standards can help foster green investment in the agrifood transition

• by Reyes Tirado

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts is a core element of global agrifood system transformation. Yet, while it represents an important opportunity for capital markets and investors, climate finance focused on agrifood systems has thus far been limited. In 2022, $95 billion of global climate finance funding was dedicated to agrifood industries and practices, with 22% coming from private sources.

More than 7 Million Pakistanis Facing Acute Food Insecurity

• by Sara Gustafson

7.5 million Pakistanis are currently facing high levels of acute food insecurity, according to a new IPC alert released this week.   Pakistan suffered from multiple climate shocks in 2025, including a monsoon-driven flooding and prolonged drought.

How natural language processing and AI can help policymakers address global food insecurity

• by Marieke Meeske

Natural language processing (NLP), a subfield of artificial intelligence that uses computational techniques to interpret, analyze, and generate human language, encompasses a range of tasks and techniques. These include the large language models (LLMs) that power chatbots and other types of systems, as well as specific approaches (some employed by LLMs), including information extraction and text mining.NLP offers powerful opportunities to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—including SDG2 (Zero Hunger).

Balancing external shocks and domestic reforms: Do U.S. tariffs erode India’s tax reform benefits?

• by Barun Deb Pal and Manmeet Ajmani

On February 2, 2026, the United States and India finalized a trade deal in which the U.S. will reduce its tariffs from 50% to 18% on merchandise imports from India. Earlier, on August 1, 2025, U.S. imposed 25% tariff on such imports (comprising a 10% baseline tariff + 15% reciprocal component). These tariffs cover around 70% of India’s exports to the U.S. Further, on August 27, 2025, an additional 25% tariff was implemented, as a penalty for Russian oil purchases, bringing the tariff rate to 50%. The measure was among the highest U.S.