To accelerate progress to end hunger and undernutrition around the world, the News in Brief informs partners on cutting-edge research and innovation, developments in global, regional, and national policies and programs, and timely news and events. Please feel free to share any feedback at IFPRI-Compact2025@cgiar.org.
A Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition report on “Food Systems and Diets: Facing the Challenges of the 21st Century,” reveals that nearly 3 billion people in 193 countries have low-quality diets lacking vitamins and minerals, and projects that policy inaction may lead to one third of the global population suffering from obesity or overweight by the year 2030.
Lancet: New findings on child development. The Lancet’s new series on Advancing Early Childhood Development: from Science to Scale underscored that a child’s brain develops faster in the first 2-3 years than any other time of life. Interventions such as health, nutrition, responsive caregiving, and early learning may cost as little as 50 cents per child annually when combined with existing services. The findings come as the World Bank hosted the Human Capital Summit: Investing in the Early Years for Growth and Productivity.
Evaluation of Malawi’s Public Works Program shows no effect on food security. The study by Innovations for Poverty Action and the Malawi Social Action Fund found that the program did not impact food security, and some indications that it decreased the food security of non-beneficiaries living in the targeted communities.
NEWS AND EVENTS
A number of proposed mega-mergers could affect global markets in seeds and agrochemicals. German gene firm Bayer seeks to take over the U.S. seed, chemical, and biotech company Monsanto in a US$66 billion deal. U.S.-based Dow Chemical Company and the chemical conglomerate DuPont also seek to merge, and ChemChina plans to buy Swiss seed and gene group Syngenta for US$43 billion. If the mergers are approved, three companies will control 60 percent of the world’s seed supply, 70 percent of its agricultural chemicals and pesticides, and nearly all of its GMO traits.
Discussions at the World Bank and IMF annual meetings focused on the sluggish global economy. More developing countries are in a recession today than any time since the global financial crisis in 2009. Despite the performance of the global economy, new poverty figures show that 767 million people were living on less than $1.90 a day in 2013, down from 881 million people in the previous year.
