While food price volatility has decreased since 2010, price spikes and unpredictable markets remain a significant threat to global food security. The uncertainty that stems from price volatility can cut into farmers’ profits and discourage long-term planning and investment, decreasing agricultural productivity. In turn, smaller harvests and lower food stocks can lead to further price increases and decreased availability of food, particularly for already vulnerable populations. But what is behind price volatility, and what can be done to control it?

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton vacated her post at the State Department last week. She may be gone, but her legacy will not be forgotten. The development community will remember her unwavering commitment to raising the profile of hunger and poverty in the developing world as well as in the United States.

Despite rapid economic growth in South Asia, its rates of child undernutrition remain the highest in the world, with nearly half of children stunted or underweight. Progress to reduce these rates is extremely slow. Ironically, most people in the region make their living from farming, which researchers say, offers great potential for improving nutrition.

Dr. Montague Yudelman, an influential leader in agricultural development, died on January 22, 2013.

Yudelman (known as “Monty” to his friends and colleagues) was, in the words of IFPRI Director General Shenggen Fan, “truly a giant in our profession.”

Yudelman’s experience growing up on a family farm in South Africa sparked an active engagement in agricultural development that lasted more than 50 years. His distinguished career included positions at the Population Reference Bureau, the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Bank, the World Resources Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund.