Blog

What's New

Famine Continues to Spread in Sudan: New IPC Alert Released

Dec 24th, 2024 • by Sara Gustafson and Rob Vos

As the conflict in Sudan enters its twentieth month, acute food insecurity in the country is spreading rapidly. According to a new alert from the IPC Famine Review Committee, Famine conditions have been identified in five areas of the country, with an additional five areas expected to face Famine between December 2024 and March 2025. As many as 17 additional areas are at risk of Famine, and half the country’s population—24.6 million people—is currently experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity.

Commercialization carries both benefits and challenges for agricultural households

Dec 16th, 2024 • by Sara Gustafson

Creating opportunities to more effectively link farmers in Africa south of the Sahara with local, regional, and global markets has become a key development focus in recent years. However, questions remain about the impacts that increased agricultural commercialization may have on household food consumption and food and nutrition security. A recent article in Food Security examines such impacts in Ghana, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe and finds both positive and negative trade-offs to increased market integration.

A shock to the (food) system: Using new IFPRI tools to evaluate household food security outcomes

Dec 12th, 2024 • by Andrew Comstock, Olivier Ecker, and Eleanor Jones

Recent crises and shocks have eroded food security in many countries. These crises take many forms. Some are global shocks, such as a sharp rise in food commodity prices in world markets. Some are local shocks—for instance, flooding from an extreme weather event, or another from the ever-increasing list of climate impacts.

Millions Face Rising Acute Food Insecurity, According to New FAO-WFP Report

Dec 7th, 2024 • by Sara Gustafson

Millions of people across 22 countries and territories may be pushed into acute food insecurity by May 2025, according to the latest FAO-WFP Hunger Hotspots Report. Ongoing and increasing conflict in many areas of the world, along with economic hardships and extreme weather caused by climate change and the La Niña phenomenon, are behind this significant increase in both the magnitude and the severity of acute food insecurity.

Tracking soil health managers in Uganda

Dec 6th, 2024 • by Evgeniya Anisimova

Soil degradation, mainly caused by soil erosion and nutrient depletion, is a key factor undermining agricultural productivity, food security, and livelihoods in low- and middle-income countries. Soil degradation is a key problem in Uganda, which has seen growing soil health challenges. To address this issue, IFPRI, the CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains, and Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) have initiated a new round of a long-term, gender-disaggregated soil health survey in Uganda.