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Food systems have experienced a multitude of shocks in recent years that threaten food and nutrition security around the world. The Latin America and Caribbean region (LAC), which plays an important role in ensuring the stability of the global food system, has been hit hard by these disruptions. The region has accounted for 30% of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet makes up only 8% of the global population.

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. 

This post originally appeared on IFPRI.org, by Swati Malhotra and Rob Vos.

Global hunger has been on the rise since 2014, and the world is not on track to achieve the goal of Zero Hunger (SDG2). If current trends continue without concerted and collaborative actions to tackle the challenge, 840 million people will come under the grip of hunger by 2030. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation, especially in low- and middle-income countries, where compounding effects—conflict, economic downturns and shocks, and climate variability—are causing distress.

Our window of opportunity for achieving SDG 2 — eradicating hunger and malnutrition and ensuring access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food for all by 2030 — is closing rapidly. However, far from moving closer to that goal, the world has seen a resurgence of hunger and food insecurity.

The current El Niño cycle is being called the one of the strongest on record, and it is already having serious impacts on local food production in many developing countries around the world. Production shortfalls, and subsequent food price hikes, will be particularly harmful for the world’s poorest consumers, who research shows spend 50-70 percent of their incomes on food. A new IFPRI brief examines some of these impacts and discusses policy options to improve countries’ resilience and food security in the face of weather- and climate-related shocks.