POLICY SEMINAR

Call for Action to Address the Global Food Security Crisis

OCT 5, 2022 - 9:30 TO 11:00AM EDT

The world is facing a potential food crisis worse than any seen since World War II. With Russia’s devastating war on Ukraine, a historic drought and heat wave in China, and an irregular monsoon season in South Asia, food supplies from several of the world’s largest granaries are highly uncertain and concerning. Global hunger has been rising since 2015, and the number of people facing acute, crisis-level food insecurity has doubled to well over 200 million. Famine is threatening the lives of large populations in the Horn of Africa, Yemen, and South Sudan. Already, climate change is compounding the global risks to food security.

In response to this “code red for global food systems,” the world community is beginning to coalesce around several action areas set forth by the Declaration of Leaders’ Summit on Global Food Security, the Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS) convened by the G7 Development Ministers, and the French Initiative for an International Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission (FARM), among others. At the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting, held in Bali on September 27th, serious concerns were expressed about the global food security situation, but members stopped short of announcing concrete, concerted efforts to address the crisis. This may still come at the joint G20 Agriculture and Finance Ministers’ meeting on October 11, 2022.

What can the G20 do to help, and should it play a role in enhancing, strengthening, and coordinating initiatives to help avoid a potential food catastrophe and prevent future threats by making food systems resilient and sustainable?

This seminar will address these questions and consider the proposals made by the Task Force on Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture of the Think20 (T20).

What can the G20 do to address the global food security crisis?

Johan Swinnen, Managing Director, Systems Transformation, CGIAR and Director General, IFPRI

Panel Discussion

Godfrey Bahiigwa, Director of Agriculture and Rural Development, African Union Commission

Damayanti Buchori, Lead Co-chair, Task Force Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture T20

Eugenio Diaz-Bonilla, IICA Visiting Fellow, IFPRI

Arif Husain, Chief Economist, World Food Program (WFP)

Q&A

Closing Remarks

Rob Vos, Director of Markets, Trade and Institutions Division, IFPRI

Moderator

Valeria Piñeiro, Acting Head of the Latin American region & Senior Research Coordinator, IFPRI

More on the seminar: https://www.ifpri.org/event/call-action-address-global-food-security-crisis

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