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The Daily Star (Bangladesh) published an article on the future of Bangladesh and the impact of COVID-19. IFPRI estimates (see the blog post, Poverty and food insecurity could grow dramatically as COVID-19 spreads) that an additional 42 million people in South Asia could fall into extreme poverty in 2020 due to the pandemic. For Bangladesh, the ADB estimates that […]

Agerpres (Romania) summarized a Bloomberg story on food export restrictions. Senior Research Fellow Joseph Glauber says many governments have been encouraged to relax restrictions after assessing global reserves and given assurances that there will be sufficient supply. We hope we have seen the end of export restrictions. But people will be watching countries like Russia closely to see if the current restrictions […]

Yahoo News published an article about how the COVID-19 health crisis has caused a hunger crisis. IFPRI warned that, if the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) drops 5 percent due to the coronavirus disaster, then 147 million people will fall into extreme poverty. Senior Research Fellow David Laborde Debucquet said that would include 50 percent of the population (79 million people) in sub-Saharan […]

Jiemian (China) reported on the problem with the food supply in the United States–food is grown, but usual buyers (restaurants, fast-food chains, hotels) aren’t buying. MTID Director Rob Vos pointed out that those who are unemployed have a decrease in purchasing power as they save daily expenses from food consumption and choose to buy cheaper […]

The Hill (USA) published an op-ed by Senior Research Fellow Ruben Eccheverria. He writes, “from panic-buying in Europe to bans on rice exports in Asia and rising food prices in Africa, the fragility of our global food system has been exposed by the coronavirus pandemic. …Yet, out of the urgency and necessity created by the shock of COVID-19, we have […]

El Pais published an op-ed by Senior Research Fellow Stuart Gillespie. Gillespie offers hopeful recommendations. “We are facing a critical moment in history when we can turn adversity into an advantage and build a better world. To do this we need to transform global and national food systems and put the health of people and the planet ahead of short-term benefit.” 

Rappler (Philippines) in an opinion piece stated that the right to food and a nation’s capacity to produce domestic food should not be decided by market forces. IFPRI’s research was quoted in the article (see the blog post, Poverty and food insecurity could grow dramatically as COVID-19 spreads by Senior Fellows David Laborde and Will Martin, and Division Director [MTID] Rob Vos), poor communities will […]

Ethiopia Observer published an opinion article referring to IFPRI’s 2013 review that indicates that nearly all available peer-reviewed publications on Bt cotton in South Africa (mainly focusing on smallholder farmers) report yield increase with the use of Bt cotton compared to conventional varieties.  

The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, USA) published an article on the COVID-19 pandemic and the domino effect of a health crisis — a collapsing economy, rising unemployment, and disruptions to the food supply are all upending the developed world. MTID Director Rob Vos states while the world has had this many hungry people before, the speed and pace of the pandemic-triggered collapse […]

Caixin (China) published a news report on COVID19’s impact on food safety. The article quoted Senior Research Fellow, David Laborde, who said policies, such as export restrictions, are based on panic purchases and will cause shortages. He said that the current situation is controllable if policymakers in various countries “take action based on evidence rather than fear.” Laborde recommends that policymakers in various […]