Crises challenging global food system: Report

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, June 20: The multiple crises facing the current world have disrupted the global food system and added to the rising number of hungry and displaced people, Global Food Policy Report, 2023 stated. The South Asia region report was launched at Kathmandu on Monday and stated that crisis like COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, civil unrest and political instability, growing impacts of climate change in 2022 and Russia-Ukraine War resulted in food crisis across the globe.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)’s South Asia Regional Office organised  launch of the 2023 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR) on Monday  in partnership with the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS), the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) which was launched by Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, Narayan Kaji Shrestha on Monday. The 2023 Global Food Policy Report focused mainly on three areas like crisis prediction and preparation; building resilience before and during crises; and making crisis response supportive and inclusive of women, forced migrants, and other vulnerable groups. 

The Global Report on Food Crises (2022) has estimated that as many as 205 million people in 45 countries experienced crisis-level acute food insecurity or worse due to these compounding crises. This has stressed the need to develop more systematic and long-term approaches to food crisis response that will be sustainable and help build greater resilience to similar and new shocks in future. 

Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister and also chairperson of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, shared that climate change was one of the major causes of the disasters confronted by Nepal and it had also exacerbated the threats to our food system and food security. 

"The rising temperatures made our crops more vulnerable to diseases and pests and recent heatwave also has severe implications for our agricultural productivity which will lead economic and social disparities," he said.

DPM Shrestha further said that the government had been actively participating in various international initiatives to mitigate the impacts of climate change, promote sustainable development, and implement adaptation measures to tackle these emerging challenges.

"The world has been witnessing a strong increase in the volatility and shocks to our systems. Thus, the report is focused on rethinking food crises responses in such a world and features concrete strategies and recommendations for crises response with a focus on different regions and countries,” said Johan Swinnen, Director General of IFPRI and Managing Director of the CGIAR Systems Transformation Science Group.

Tenzin Lekphell, Secretary General, BIMSTEC, said, “The COVID-19 pandemic along with other crises has exacerbated the existing vulnerabilities and exposed the fragility of our food systems. It has highlighted the urgent need for collective action, innovative solution, and resilient policies which can be done through effective implementation of the report.”