What's New

With the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) deadline of 2030 fast approaching, the clock is ticking for the world to meet its goal of eradicating hunger and food insecurity. Some progress was made toward this milestone in 2024; however, hunger levels remain above their pre-pandemic levels, according to the 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report.

The Gaza Strip has entered a “worst case” food crisis, with its population now facing famine, according to a July 29 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert. Responding to growing international outrage over the emergency, two days earlier, Israel said it was reopening humanitarian aid corridors—allowing international organizations to resume convoys—while the Israeli Defense Force announced a daily  “tactical pause” on operations in densely-populated Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and Mawasi to facilitate aid distribution.

The population of the Gaza Strip is facing unprecedented crisis, according to the latest IPC alert released yesterday. Calling the situation the “worst-case scenario,” the alert reports famine-level food consumption throughout most of the territory and acute malnutrition in Gaza City.

Agrifood value chains (AVCs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have been expanding due to a range of factors, including income growth, urbanization, more market-oriented policies, globalization, and technological changes. Integrating smallholder farmers into those growing value chains, particularly for higher-value commodities, is an important path towards reducing poverty and generating employment opportunities, particularly for women and rural youth.

The “Liberation Day” tariffs proposed by the United States on April 2 included a blanket 10% increase for countries with which the U.S. runs bilateral trade surpluses or small deficits, and a range of higher tariffs for 56 economies with which the U.S. runs sizeable trade deficits (excluding Canada and Mexico as partners in the U.S-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement; and Cuba, Russia and North Korea).