What's New

A recent literature review , prepared for USAID, clearly reveals that investments in agricultural research have made large contributions to poverty reduction, nutrition improvement, and resilience through the systemic transformation of local agriculture and food systems. The authors reviewed dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles and books published after 2000, with an emphasis on those published since 2010.

Here are a few of the central findings:

By Eugenio Díaz-Bonilla, Senior Research Fellow and Head of IFPRI's Latin America and Caribbean Program

The FAO’s monthly report on food price trends was released this week. The bulletin reports on recent food price developments over the past month at the global, regional, and country levels, with a focus on developing countries, and provides early warnings for high country-level food prices that may negatively affect food security.

The latest editions of the FAO Food Price Index and the AMIS Market Monitor were recently released. The FAO Food Price Index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of five food commodity groups; the monthly AMIS Market Monitor covers the international markets for wheat, rice, maize, and soybeans, providing an overview of the market situation and outlook for each of these crops.

The Food Price Index rose 2.2 percent in May and is up 10 percent from its May 2016 level. May’s increase followed three months of consecutive declines.

While progress has been made in reducing global poverty over the last two decades, about one billion people still live in poverty, according to the latest World Bank estimate. In addition, according to FAO, over 800 million people suffer from hunger, while more than two billion people suffer from macronutrient deficiencies, or “hidden hunger”. IFPRI’s 2016 Global Hunger Index reports that 50 countries continue to have “serious” or “alarming” hunger levels, with the most affected areas in Africa south of the Sahara and South Asia.