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This blog was originally posted on IFPRI.org. It was written by Swati Malhotra and Alexandria Richter.

More than 155 million people experienced acute food insecurity at crisis level or worse around the world in 2020, an increase of 20 million from 2019 and a five-year high, as the COVID-19 pandemic compounded economic shocks, conflicts, and climate and severe weather impacts, estimates the 2021 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC).

The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated policy responses have had wide-ranging impacts across the globe in terms of health, food security, incomes and livelihoods, and access to critical services. According to the 2021 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR), released this week by IFPRI, COVID-19’s effects have moved the world further away from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Pulses are an essential source of protein and minerals for much of the global population, to reflect this the UN has named 2016 as the ‘’International Year of Pulses.’ However, despite increasing demand, global pulse productivity remains low at around a quarter of global cereal yields per hectare, according to IFPRI.

Child migration from Central America to the US can be attributed to different socioeconomic factors depending on the point of origin, demanding tailored multisectoral domestic solutions.

On August 14, IFPRI and the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI) held a Policy Forum on food and nutrition security in Zambia. The meeting was attended by 66 representatives of various international organizations and government ministries, including the Zambian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and the European Union.