Heidi Kühn of the United States will receive the 2023 World Food Prize for her farmer-focused development model that revitalizes farmland, food security, livelihoods, and resilience after devastating conflict. For more than two decades, she has shown more than a million people living in war-torn regions around the world a way forward for restoring peace and prosperity through agriculture. A humanitarian and peace activist who has spent more than 25 years restoring agriculture in former conflict zones has been named as the 2023 World Food Prize Laureate The World Food Prize Foundation will awar ..read more

African governments will need to tap into all domestic and global sources of adaptation finance to meet a shortfall of more than $40 billion to climate-proof food systems, according to the Malabo Montpellier Panel. Current levels of adaptation financing needs for agriculture, forestry, and land use (AFOLU) and water sectors in Africa amount to an estimated $41.3 billion, according to a report launched by the Panel of experts at the Malabo Montpellier Forum in Dakar, Senegal, organized with the Centre de Suivi Écologique (CSE). However, research indicates that small-scale farmers, agr ..read more

World leaders gathered in Egypt from 6-18 November for the COP27 climate conference, where a number of sessions and dialogues were held to discuss the intersection of agriculture and climate change, among other topics. A number of commitments and initiatives were also announced during the talks. These are outlined below. Koronivia Joint Work for Agriculture (KJWA): KJWA is the official UNFCCC workstream for agriculture and food security, with the goal of discussing and building consensus around six themes: soils, nutrient use, water, livestock, methods for assessing adaptation, and the socio-e ..read more

After a day orienting food security experts from around the world on the interconnected challenges of climate change, COVID-19, global conflict and more, the second day of the Borlaug Dialogue began to delve deeper into the agricultural development landscape with a keynote speech from Samantha Power, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Power opened the morning by giving an overview of the current state of global food security through the eyes of USAID’s aid workers and projects around the world, emphasizing the long-term threat of climate change to food secu ..read more

Haiti’s smallholder farmers have demonstrated how they defied the Covid-19 pandemic to continue to produce and export goods, thanks to long-term investment in food systems. Acceso has been supporting Haitian farmers, providing technical training, support and market linkages, since 2014. After helping peanut farmers to improve production and reduce the risk of contamination, Acceso and partners launched Lavi Spicy Peanut Butter, a product created entirely in Haiti using peanuts grown by local farmers, in 2019. The peanut butter sold is inspired by Sergeline René’s family recipe (Photo: Gemma H ..read more

Leaders gathered at the G7 Summit from 26 to 28 June in Germany, where food security was high on the agenda. The G7 Leaders said they “will spare no effort to increase global food and nutrition security and to protect the most vulnerable, whom the food crisis threatens to hit the hardest.”  So, what does this mean in practice in addressing food security? The Global Alliance for Food Security Initially introduced at the World Bank Spring Meetings in April, G7 leaders endorsed the Global Alliance on Food Security to tackle the global food crisis triggered, amongst other challenges, from the ..read more

Investing in more science and innovation to support a growing, sustainable bioeconomy will help to build Africa’s resilience against future crises, the 10th Malabo Montpellier Forum heard. The bioeconomy, broadly referring to the production and use of renewable biological resources, was also the focus of a report launched at the meeting. In ‘Nature’s Solutions: Policy Innovations & Opportunities for Africa’s Bioeconomy’, the Malabo Montpellier Panel of 18 leading scientists set out how African biosolutions such as mosquito-repelling plants and cooking fuel made from fruit waste can help cr ..read more

Nature-based solutions were one of the main topics at the fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) in Nairobi. UNEA-5.2, which commenced on February 28, was convened under the theme “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals” to highlight the pivotal role nature plays in sustainable development across social, economic, and environmental domains.  One of the key outcomes from the fifth session was a resolution focused on nature-based solutions with the goal of protecting, conserving, restoring as well as sustainably using and managing ecos ..read more

Celebrate the accomplishments of those who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world, by nominating an individual or individuals for the 2022 World Food Prize!  Nominations are now open for the 2022 World Food Prize, which has been referred to as the “Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture.” The prize is a $250,000 award formally presented at the Laureate Award Ceremony in mid-October in conjunction with the Borlaug Dialogue. The deadline to nominate is May 1, 2022. Since 1987, the prize has been awarded annually to more than 50 ..read more

COVID-19 and climate change have exacerbated malnutrition and threatened the sustainability and resilience of food systems around the world. At the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit, held 7th-8th December, representatives from governments, business, multilaterals, donors, and other development partners came together to deliver renewed policy and financial commitments to address the global malnutrition and hunger crisis. Notably, the European Union committed US$2.8 billion, the United States committed US$11 billion, and the African Development Bank committed US$1.35 billion. Today, one th ..read more