What's New

2018 marked the 10th anniversary of the first G20 Summit , held in Washington in 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis. At the 2018 G20 Summit , held Nov. 30-Dec. 1 in Buenos Aires under the auspices of the Argentina Presidency, world leaders faced a different set of challenges, from persistent hunger to the eruption of trade wars. They worked to build consensus on a range of topics including the future of work, infrastructure for development, the need for gender mainstreaming in global agendas, and a sustainable food future.

The world’s agricultural monitoring systems provide up-to-date information on food production to decision makers that is crucial to global and national food security. When prices become dangerously volatile—as they did during the food price crisis of 2007-2011—these systems spread critical information quickly that can reduce the risks of market and supply upheavals.

On November 28, the Food Security Portal will be presenting a side event at the IFPRI-FAO conference on Accelerating the End of Hunger and Malnutrition .

The FSP event will focus on the importance of information, specifically early warning and early action systems, to prevent and respond to food security crises. Panelists will include representatives from IFPRI, FAO, UNHCR, CILSS, INERA, and government ministries.

The side event will be held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Bangkok from 12:00 - 13:30 and is open to all registered conference participants.

Unsafe food poses a significant threat to human health and well-being and can hamper agricultural transformation, market integration, and economic development. Populations in low- and middle-income countries are often hardest hit by the effects of unsafe food, with countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa south of the Sahara accounting for 53 percent of all foodborne illnesses and 75 percent of related deaths.

This year’s International Day of Rural Women (Oct. 15) focuses on the theme, “Challenges and opportunities in climate-resilient agriculture for gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls.” The urgency of these challenges is outlined in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report , which projects more severe repercussions of climate change —among them droughts, rising sea levels, and more frequent and powerful storms and floods—hitting sooner than anticipated.