IFPRI launches Global Food Policy Report

Today the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) will launch the inaugural Global Food Policy Report, the first in a new annual series.

The Report provides a comprehensive overview of major policy changes at the global, regional, national, and local levels, as well as their significance for food and nutrition security.

The Report makes the case for keeping food policy issues high on the global agenda, and could serve as a reference to policymakers and stakeholders as they undertake discussions on global development.

These were contained in a release issued by IFPRI and copied to the Ghana News Agency.

It said policymakers who will gather for the upcoming G8 and G20 meetings, and decision makers, international organizations, and civil society who will also meet for Rio+20, major food policy developments from 2011 could provide lessons and guidance for 2012 and the future.

The release said, emerging economies like Brazil, China, and India, as well as the private sector and philanthropic organizations have also increased their voice in the global food system through global platforms such as the G20 meeting and the World Economic Forum.

The G8 and G20 meetings could serve as a platform for developed and developing countries to tackle food security issues together, working across borders to maximize results; and Rio+20 will leverage agriculture for broader development outcomes including food, water, land, and energy.

“For most of 2011, global food prices and food price volatility remained high. Droughts, floods, and earthquakes threatened food security for the poor, and increased hunger and malnutrition in the areas hit by these natural disasters.

Yet 2011 saw significant gains in support of agriculture, food and nutrition security, and global poverty reduction. Agriculture moved to the forefront of the international development agenda, and investments in the sector rose,” the release explained.

It said, looming large for 2012, will be continued high and volatile food prices, increased oil prices, the threat of extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change, such as drought in the Sahel, and financial crises in the US and Europe; all of which have and will continue to affect the food and nutrition security of the poor and hungry.**