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Die Zeit (Germany) published a news article on food supplies during the pandemic and wrote about IFPRI’s COVID-19 Food Trade Policy Tracker.

Reuters reported on the predicted devastation of COVID-19 in Africa. Senior Research Fellows James Thurlow and David Laborde Debucquet were quoted in the report. Thurlow states, “About 80% of urban Africans get their food through informal food markets. So even if it’s coming off the farm and coming out of the factories, if you cannot buy it, it’s as good as not […]

Medical News reported on IFPRI’s 2020 Global Food Policy Report and its findings and recommendations. Johan Swinnen, the report’s lead author and IFPRI’s director general, says that “control measures such as limited interactions that countries have been implementing since the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic last month (11 March) are interfering with economic activities worldwide.” He adds, “vulnerable groups can contribute […]

Daily Hunt (India) published an article on the plight of the poor in developing countries amid the spread of coronavirus. Director General Johan Swinnen states, “There is no shortage of food globally, or mass starvation from the pandemic — yet. But logistical problems in planting, harvesting and transporting food will leave poor countries exposed in the coming months, especially those reliant […]

CGTN (China) reported on the impact of COVID-19 on food security in Southeast Asia. The report quoted Senior Research Fellow, David Laborde Debucquet, who states, “One of the challenges for the next few months will be to make sure that farmers and workers in farms and plantations can access the fields in order to prepare the next harvest.”  

China Daily News published an op-ed written by Director General Johan Swinnen. The op-ed discusses the potential for a food crisis. The coronavirus outbreak is likely to cause another major food crisis for the poor. And to avoid a food crisis, governments will need to implement policies and programs that target those most impacted and help address the negative impacts. Republished in […]

Financial Times published a news report on the impact of the pandemic on global food security. In its report, it referred to IFPRI’s Food Export Restrictions Tracker that provides updated information on export bans imposed by the countries in wake of the pandemic and referred to IFPRI’s Senior Research Fellows, Will Martin and Joseph Glauber finding that imposing export restriction on food risks pushing up prices […]

The Economist published an article on food security during the COVID-19 crisis. In the article, Senior Research Fellow David Laborde states, ”Fortunately world food systems today are ‘in a very different situation’ from the crisis of 2007-08,” and further adds, “World food stocks are high. Prices for rice are up, but not to crisis levels.” 

Scidev.net published an article on findings and recommendations of the 2020 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR). The article quoted Director General Johan Swinnen and Rajul Pandya-Lorch. Swinnen states, “As the world struggles to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, economies and livelihoods are disrupted, with the poor [and] vulnerable ones likely to suffer the most. For instance, smallholder farmers, market vendors, women and youth directly relying […]

Economic Times (India) published an article on how the coronavirus has done more than disrupt supply chains. At least 10 countries have introduced restrictions on overseas sales of grains or rice since mid-March, according to IFPRI’s COVID-19 Food Trade Policy Tracker, and while many of those actions might not stick, that such threats were made at all serves as […]