Blog Category

Poverty

We must build food system resilience before the next crisis

• by KATRINA KOSEC AND JOHAN SWINNEN

In February 2022, news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated headlines around the world. Policymakers everywhere worried about the potential ripple effects of the invasion on the economic recovery from COVID-19, as well as on political stability — and food and nutrition security. These worries proved to be well-founded: International food prices spiked by nearly a third and fertilizer prices tripled. 

The response to the global food crisis must address the needs of women and girls

• by ELIZABETH BRYAN AND CLAUDIA RINGLER

Development agencies are pouring in billions of dollars to address the global food crisis exacerbated by Russia’s war on Ukraine. The World Bank, the G7, the European Union’s Team Europe, and the United States have collectively pledged more than $40 billion to avert food and humanitarian crises. Yet this much-needed assistance carries its own risks. Without a gender lens, the proposed measures will fail to meet the specific needs of women and girls and might worsen existing gender inequalities.

One of the world’s worst economic collapses, now compounded by the Ukraine crisis: What’s next for Lebanon?

• by CLEMENS BREISINGER, NADIM KHOURI, JOSEPH GLAUBER AND DAVID LABORDE

High food prices and supply disruptions triggered by the Ukraine war are hitting Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries like Egypt, Sudan, and Yemen hard, partly due their heavy dependence on wheat imports. But in the region, Lebanon—already in the midst of one of the world’s worst economic collapses since the 1850s—is uniquely vulnerable to food security impacts from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.