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1. Defining the Path to Zero Hunger in an Equitable World

Author:
Catherine Bertini, Peggy Tsai Yih, Roger Thurow, and Gloria Dabek
Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
During the 2022 World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogues, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and The Rockefeller Foundation gathered experts and stakeholders from climate, agriculture, food security, and humanitarian backgrounds to discuss a bold vision for a 21st Century of zero hunger in a healthier and more equitable world. The white paper, “Defining the Path to Zero Hunger in an Equitable World,” reflects a summary of their views and offers a framework to reimagine a hunger-free world. The quickened pace of extreme weather events, disruptions to agricultural markets from the war in Ukraine and other conflicts, and a fragile post-pandemic international economy rattled the global food chain. A culmination of these realities is complicating the dual imperative to both nourish the planet and preserve it from environmental threats. According to the 2022 IPCC report, without immediate changes, extreme weather will likely render large areas of crop and livestock land unsuitable by 2050, potentially pushing millions of people into food insecurity. The newly outlined white paper tackles some of the greatest obstacles facing the nexus of food security, climate, and humanitarian spaces, and ultimately voices hope for a better food future. It amplifies this message by providing an analysis of three major obstacles—silos, myopic priorities, and top-down decision-making—in conjunction with catalyzing ideas that address these challenges.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Humanitarian Aid, Food, Food Security, Hunger, Equity, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Combating Global Hunger as an American Foreign Policy Priority

Author:
Gloria Dabek and Emily Sullivan
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
While not traditionally prioritized as a tool of foreign policy, combatting world hunger has high bipartisan support from the American public. Global hunger can often get lost in American foreign policy discussions amid concerns about military engagements, trade relationships, and international cooperation and competition. However, the 2021 Chicago Council Survey found that a majority of Americans believe that combating global hunger should be of some importance to US foreign policy.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Agriculture, Food, Public Opinion, and Hunger
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

3. Global Food Security Act Reauthorization: New and Lingering Challenges

Author:
Gloria Dabek
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
Amid new challenges to global food security, the Center for Global Food and Agriculture analyzes necessary changes to the Global Food Security Act Reauthorization. The Global Food Security Act (GFSA) authorizes the Feed the Future Initiative (FTF), the US government’s premier effort to address the root causes of hunger and poverty in lower- and middle-income countries. The GFSA must recognize how the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change wreak havoc on global food security efforts.
Topic:
Agriculture, Poverty, Food, Hunger, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
North America and Global Focus

4. Ending Hunger and Advancing Nutrition: Lived Experience Perspectives

Author:
Gloria Dabek, Samanta Dunford, Priya Fielding-Singh, and Peggy Tsai Yih
Publication Date:
09-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
Today, soaring costs of living and spiraling inflation have made accessing and affording healthy food a challenge for many Americans. In June 2022, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs partnered with World Central Kitchen and Auburn University’s Hunger Solutions Institute to conduct listening sessions in three locations across the country to inform policy recommendations for the 2022 White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. The sessions focused on learning directly from individuals with lived experiences of hunger and food insecurity to explicitly center and prioritize their voices and perspectives in policy conversations. This brief presents key learnings from the listening sessions and connects them with seven actionable policy recommendations. These recommendations include: Addressing root causes of hunger; Better coordinating federal resources; Reducing barriers to federal assistance; Adding federal benefits to address current challenges; Increasing affordability and availability of fresh fruits and vegetables; Improving food recovery; Supporting communities with targeted food assistance. Underlying all of these recommendations is the understanding that hunger, nutrition, and health issues are deeply intertwined with several key environmental and social determinants—including but not limited to poverty, structural racism, housing, healthcare, economic security, education, and transportation—that help drive significant disparities in individuals’, families’, and communities’ experiences of food insecurity, nutrition, and diet-related diseases.
Topic:
Food Security, Hunger, Nutrition, and Cost of Living
Political Geography:
North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

5. Centering Global Food Security for Global Prosperity

Author:
Catherine Bertini and Ertharin Cousin
Publication Date:
02-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
The new Biden Administration will face global crises on multiple fronts. COVID-19, coupled with conflict and escalating climate disasters, is leading to one of the most disastrous humanitarian and hunger crises in the last century. In the past decade, previous Administrations have demonstrated the value and impact of food security and nutrition security programs for alleviating hunger and malnutrition and for reducing the threat of conflict and governmental instability. As a result of targeted and thoughtful assistance, there are 23.4 million more people today who live above the poverty line and 3.4 million more children are free from stunting. More than 5 million families now live free from hunger and billions of dollars in agricultural sales have been generated. The Biden Administration has the opportunity to build on a strong foundation of work. To strengthen this programming in the next decade, key considerations should include: Creating a more resilient and healthful food system that is capable of absorbing shocks and stressors. Systems thinking—especially the integration of food, nutrition, health, climate, and agriculture—can drive sustainable outcomes. Building inclusive partnerships from the beginning to create sustainable and resilient communities. Investing in agricultural economies beyond US borders should be understood as an investment in critical infrastructure that stretches back to our own heartland.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Food, Hunger, and Nutrition
Political Geography:
North America and Global Focus