This pioneering text brings together for the first time the global institutions on the front line of the campaign against hunger and poverty. The institutions examined in this book – the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Bank, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) – play important roles in achieving and maintaining world food security, which is essential for human existence, economic and social development and world peace. By analyzing the origins, functions, successes and difficulties of these global institutions, Shaw highlights the continuing relevance of these bodies in their quest to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. In the light of the current world food crisis, this book provides a particularly pertinent commentary on a highly topical issue that is never far from the media spotlight. This book is essential reading for all students, academics and readers with an interest in international organisations, agricultural development and economic and humanitarian affairs

This book is a historical review of international food and agriculture since the founding of the international organizations following the Second World War, including the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and into the 1970s, when CGIAR was established and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was created to recycle petrodollars. Despite numerous international consultations and an increased number of actors, there has been no real growth in international assistance, except for the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The book concurrently focuses on the structural transformation of developing countries in Asia and Africa, with some making great strides in small farmer development and in achieving structural transformation of their economies. Some have also achieved Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG2, but most have not. Not only are some countries, particularly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, lagging behind, but they face new challenges of climate change, competition from emerging countries, population pressure, urbanization, environmental decay, and dietary transition. Lagging developing countries need huge investments in human capital, and physical and institutional infrastructure, to take advantage of rapid change in technologies, but the role of international assistance in financial transfers has diminished. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only set many poorer countries back but starkly revealed the weaknesses of past strategies. Transformative changes are needed in developing countries with international cooperation to achieve better outcomes. Will change in the United States bring new opportunities for multilateral cooperation?"--

Global food security remains at ever greater risk. This is true despite greater concerns and robust actions by world political leaders such as the G8 Summit and other stakeholders world-wide. Pro-active public policies and programs are needed for enhancing food security and ending world hunger and poverty. This book spans the globe presenting leading research in food security and economic implications. Topics discussed include: a systemic approach to food security in agrarian societies; impacts of climate change on agriculture and its implications for food security; impacts of climate change on artisanal fisheries; crop holidays -- emerging issues of food security in India; the impacts of HIV/AIDS and household food security; affordable micro irrigation-based vegetable farming for income, employment and food security; informal sector employment and food security; adoption of wheat production technologies; and gender mainstreaming in food security and pro-poor programs. It offers synthesis, lessons, and policy implications for Africa and Asia. This book also provides an exciting agenda for future research and collaboration on the important issue of global food security over the coming years.

Ensuring optimal diets and nutrition for the global population is a grand challenge fraught with many contentious issues. To achieve food security for all and protect health, we need functional, equitable, and sustainable food systems. Food systems are highly complex networks of individuals and institutions that depend on governance and policy leadership. This book explains how interconnected food systems and policies affect diets and nutrition in high-, middle-, and low-income countries. In tandem with food policy, food systems determine the availability, affordability, and nutritional quality of the food supply, which influences the diets that people are willing and able to consume. Readers will become familiar with both domestic and international food policy processes and actors, and they will be able to critically analyze and debate how policy and science affect diet and nutrition outcomes.

The global food crisis is a stark reminder of the fragility of the global food system. The Global Food Crisis: Governance Challenges and Opportunities captures the debate about how to go forward and examines the implications of the crisis for food security in the world’s poorest countries, both for the global environment and for the global rules and institutions that govern food and agriculture. In this volume, policy-makers and scholars assess the causes and consequences of the most recent food price volatility and examine the associated governance challenges and opportunities, including short-term emergency responses, the ecological dimensions of the crisis, and the longer-term goal of building sustainable global food systems. The recommendations include vastly increasing public investment in small-farm agriculture; reforming global food aid and food research institutions; establishing fairer international agricultural trade rules; promoting sustainable agricultural methods; placing agriculture higher on the post-Kyoto climate change agenda; revamping biofuel policies; and enhancing international agricultural policy-making. Co-published with the Centre for International Governance Innovation

Population growth alone dictates that global food supplies must increase by over 50% in coming decades. Advances in technology offer an array of opportunities to meet this demand, but history shows that these can be fully realised only within an enabling policy environment. Sustaining Global Food Security makes a compelling case that recent technological breakthroughs can move the planet towards a secure and sustainable food supply only if new policies are designed that allow their full expression. Bob Zeigler has brought together a distinguished set of scientists and policy analysts to produce well-referenced chapters exploring international policies on genetic resources, molecular genetics, genetic engineering, crop breeding and protection, remote sensing, the changing landscape of agricultural policies in the world’s largest countries, and trade. Those entering the agricultural sciences and those who aspire to influence public policy during their careers will benefit from the insights of this unique set of experiences and perspectives.

Two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health, economic, and social disruptions caused by this global crisis continue to evolve. The impacts of the pandemic are likely to endure for years to come, with poor, marginalized, and vulnerable groups the most affected. In COVID-19 & Global Food Security: Two Years Later, the editors bring together contributions from new IFPRI research, blogs, and the CGIAR COVID-19 Hub to examine the pandemic’s effects on poverty, food security, nutrition, and health around the world. This volume presents key lessons learned on food security and food system resilience in 2020 and 2021 and assesses the effectiveness of policy responses to the crisis. Looking forward, the authors consider how the pandemic experience can inform both recovery and longer-term efforts to build more resilient food systems.

'The instability of the global food supply system requires our urgent attention. There are no easy solutions but the starting point must entail a critical analysis of the existing institutions governing the ownership and exchange of the plant genetic resources that underpin our long-term food security. Dr Chiarolla's book makes a valuable contribution to the debate.' – Graham Dutfield, University of Leeds, UK 'This book captures some of the key issues underlying the ever-lasting food crises both at national and global levels. It demonstrates how global policies impact national and local actions while food insecurity seems to be a constant companion to many, in spite of decades of our work on securing food as a fundamental right for the poor.' – Balakrishna Pisupati, United Nations Environment Programme, Kenya 'This thoughtful book raises important issues about ownership of agricultural resources, the environment and food security. Claudio Chiarolla has written an important book that challenges traditional notions of plant genetic resources and agricultural research. The author's detailed and thorough approach ensures that the book will make a valuable contribution to the debate about sustainable agricultural development and it is highly recommended to anyone interested in intellectual property rights and sustainable agriculture.' – Duncan Matthews, Queen Mary, University of London, UK This well-researched book focuses on international governance of crop diversity and agricultural innovation. It highlights the implications that the future control of food, including access to agricultural resources and technologies, might have for global food security. Claudio Chiarolla analyses developmental implications of global regulatory reforms that impact on access to agricultural knowledge, science and technology for sustainable development. Current global arrangements fall short of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals' framework. Therefore, the book proposes ways to achieve international equity in the way agricultural research is conducted, how its results are disseminated and the benefits shared. This definitive study will be appreciated by anyone interested in intellectual property, agricultural innovation, environmental policy, biotechnology and associated regulatory challenges. It will be a valuable resource for policymakers and practitioners, legislators, academic professionals, civil society activists and scholars in legal, environment and development studies.

Globalization of the food supply has created conditions favorable for the emergence, reemergence, and spread of food-borne pathogens-compounding the challenge of anticipating, detecting, and effectively responding to food-borne threats to health. In the United States, food-borne agents affect 1 out of 6 individuals and cause approximately 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths each year. This figure likely represents just the tip of the iceberg, because it fails to account for the broad array of food-borne illnesses or for their wide-ranging repercussions for consumers, government, and the food industry-both domestically and internationally. A One Health approach to food safety may hold the promise of harnessing and integrating the expertise and resources from across the spectrum of multiple health domains including the human and veterinary medical and plant pathology communities with those of the wildlife and aquatic health and ecology communities. The IOM's Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a public workshop on December 13 and 14, 2011 that examined issues critical to the protection of the nation's food supply. The workshop explored existing knowledge and unanswered questions on the nature and extent of food-borne threats to health. Participants discussed the globalization of the U.S. food supply and the burden of illness associated with foodborne threats to health; considered the spectrum of food-borne threats as well as illustrative case studies; reviewed existing research, policies, and practices to prevent and mitigate foodborne threats; and, identified opportunities to reduce future threats to the nation's food supply through the use of a "One Health" approach to food safety. Improving Food Safety Through a One Health Approach: Workshop Summary covers the events of the workshop and explains the recommendations for future related workshops.

A collection of studies of agri-food standards in the modern economy, this work addresses these and helps to define the scope of the emerging study of the politics of standards setting. It contains an overview essay dealing with the multiple ways of thinking about, approaching and defining food and agricultural standards.