Hunger is in the headlines. A drought that swept the African Sahel left 18 million people on the brink of starvation. A food price crisis prevented families across the globe from buying enough to eat. Civil unrest and natural disasters around the world left millions of displaced people scrambling for food.

Marking increased engagement in Central America, the International Food Policy Research Institute signed a Cooperation Framework Agreement with the Central American Integration System (SG-SICA) on September 21, 2012, at IFPRI headquarters. IFPRI Director General Shenggen Fan and the SG-SICA Secretary General Juan Daniel Alemán Gurdián made the commitment to strengthen cooperation between the organizations on issues related to food and nutritional security in Central America.

The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), which is one of two such programs led by IFPRI, launched its website this week. The site features information on A4NH projects, including the related impact pathways, partnerships, and outcomes. It also provides summaries of past events and a calendar of upcoming events.

For several months each year, poor farmers in Ethiopia, especially those in drought-prone areas, go hungry. During the so-called “lean” period between planting and harvesting, food supplies can run dangerously low. Sometimes, families have to sell livestock, farming tools, and other precious assets to pay for food.

In the past, the government and donors swept in with aid when extreme shortages hit and starvation became a risk. But this emergency relief was only a temporary solution to a persistent food security crisis.