The 29th edition of UNEP’s Foresight Brief explores the use of plastic in agriculture and the significant waste problem this entails which impacts on soil health, biodiversity, productivity and food security. Plastics are used extensively in farming, from plastic coated seeds to mulch film.

In Ethiopia, nearly 10 million people, including 4.4 million children, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in drought-impacted areas. Four consecutive failed rainy seasons have brought on severe drought in Ethiopia’s lowland regions of Afar, Oromia, the Southern Nations Nationalities, Peoples’ (SNNPR) and Somali regions.

Record high food prices have triggered a global crisis that will drive millions more into extreme poverty, magnifying hunger and malnutrition, while threatening to erase hard-won gains in development.

The fourth edition of the IGAD Regional Focus of the Global Report on Food Crises highlights the alarming high level of acute food insecurity in 2021 in the region, where about 42 million people were estimated to be in Crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 or above), exceeding the previous three-year high in 2020 by nearly 33 percent.

Food affordability is an important determinant of food choice and access, driving dietary patterns, nutrition status and overall health and environmental outcomes.

The number of people affected by hunger globally rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, an increase of about 46 million since 2020 and 150 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to this report that provides fresh evidence that the world is moving further away from its goal of ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030.

This report presents data from the Rwanda impact evaluation baseline survey. It describes the pre-programme baseline situation, looking at primary outcomes as well as other variables of interest. The report begins by reviewing the methodology of the evaluation, its design and randomization strategy.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, WFP has continually assessed household vulnerability to food and nutrition insecurity through monitoring surveys, while simultaneously providing technical assistance and operations support for programmes in response to the pandemic in the Asia Pacific region.

Currently, there is no standard set of social norms indicators for food security and nutrition. Practical guidance and examples of such indicators are also lacking. This guide helps fill this gap by providing assistance on formulating indicators to measure changes in gendered social norms in the context of food security and nutrition.