Blog Category

COVID-19 Economic Impacts

Disaster Events Lead to Trillions of Dollars in Agricultural Losses: New FAO Flagship Report Released

Feb 18th, 2024 • by Sara Gustafson

Over the past three decades, the world lost as much as $3.8 trillion in agricultural products as a result of disaster events, according to a new flagship report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. That equates to a loss of around 5 percent of global agricultural GDP per year and has serious implications for food security, agricultural livelihoods, and the sustainability of the global agrifood system.

COVID-19 in South Asia: Lessons from a time of upheaval

Nov 16th, 2023 • by KALYANI RAGHUNATHAN

In early 2022, Sudha Narayanan, Shahidur Rashid, and I (IFPRI), and Alex Winter-Nelson (University of Illinois) began pulling together a Special Issue for the journal Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy focused on COVID-19 in South Asia. Our goal was to distill forward-looking lessons for the developing world by drawing on similar and disparate country-level experiences. The issue is now available online and its 14 papers provide important lessons for future shocks.

Food Security and Incomes in Guatemala During Food Crises

Nov 15th, 2023 • by S. Gustafson

Since early 2020, Guatemala has faced a multitude of food security shocks: from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions on movement and disruptions to agricultural trade to widespread flooding following several major tropical storms to skyrocketing staple food prices. A new article in World Development examines the immediate and longer term impact of these shocks on households’ incomes, diets, food security, and migration decisions, particularly in rural areas.

How Much Is Lost When Disaster Strikes? New FAO Report Looks at Impact on Agricultural Production, Food Security

Oct 29th, 2023 • by S. Gustafson

Nearly US$ 4 trillion: That is the amount of global crop and livestock production the FAO estimates has been lost over the past three decades due to disaster events. According to the new report, “The impact of disasters on agriculture and food security,” this equates to an average loss of US$123 billion per year and as much as 5 percent of annual global agricultural GDP.

Price Insulation And Global Wheat Markets

Mar 27th, 2023 • by S. Gustafson

The real global price of food surged in 2022, reaching well above the previous peak seen in the 2011 food price crisis. While prices declined somewhat in July 2022, they remain alarmingly high, and some countries have enacted policies, such as export bans, to try to rein in prices on their domestic markets.