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Debate around how to increase production and consumption of nutrient-dense foods like fruits and vegetables and animal products in Africa south of the Sahara has long centered on overcoming constraints such as high cost. According to a new IFPRI working paper, however, this focus may ignore how grassroots efforts, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and midstream value chain actors, are in fact driving substantial growth in both supply of and demand for these more nutritious foods.

Poor nutrition threatens health, exacerbates inequalities, affects economic productivity, and traps countries like Ethiopia in a vicious cycle of poverty. About 38% of children below the age of 5 in the country are too short for their age (stunted). This means that these children live in an environment that impairs their physical and cognitive growth potential. The impairment often begins at conception, as mothers’ diets can also be poor, affecting not only their health but also the growth of the fetus in the womb.

Between 2000 and 2019, Rwanda’s economy grew by over 7 percent annually. This rapid and significant expansion was driven in part by transformation in the country’s agrifood sector. A recent project note by IFPRI’s Rwanda Strategy Support Program examines that transformation, particularly how the growth of different agrifood value chains has impacted poverty reduction, hunger and nutrition, economic growth, and employment in the country.

Russia’s July 17 withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI), has sparked fears of reduced exports of wheat and other key commodities to developing countries, along with other market disruptions.

The challenges of climate change and food security are closely intertwined, with agriculture both driving and being impacted by extreme weather events. Policymakers around the globe are faced with the need to increase food production to feed growing populations while reducing that production’s negative impacts on the environment. According to a recent article in Global Environmental Change, climate-smart agriculture (CSA) provides an effective way to enhance countries’ climate resilience while simultaneously ensuring food and nutrition security.