This is a crucial moment for the world’s food systems. Hunger has been on the rise since 2015, and 3 billion people cannot afford healthy diets. At the same time, food systems are placing unsustainable demands on the world’s water and energy resources and contributing a hefty share of greenhouse gas emissions. All these trends were well underway long before COVID-19.
This publication by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) aims to contribute evidence-based inputs for these critical global policy discussions and decisions, drawn from its large set of analytical tools, data, and regional coverage. The 2021 Global Food Policy Report examines what we have learned about the deficiencies in current food systems, the changes that are needed for system transformation, and what COVID-19 has taught us. It offers lessons that can help put the world on the path to food system transformation for greater resilience, inclusion, efficiency, sustainability, and nutrition. IFPRI’s analytical work during the pandemic — conducted through both new initiatives and reconfigured ongoing research — illuminates the impacts of the crisis in numerous countries and considers how policy can best address such shocks while also helping to transform food systems for the future.
