EXPLORE
COVID-19 has caused widespread loss of livelihoods and incomes, threatening the food security, health, and nutrition of poor and marginalized people around the world. The pandemic has set us further behind in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals and exposed weaknesses in our food systems. Yet it also offers lessons, innovations, and opportunities that can help transform food systems to make them more resilient to future shocks and more inclusive, efficient, sustainable, and healthy.
The 2021 Global food policy report
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Policy Responses
Pandemic policy responses have followed a similar course across diverse countries — beginning with lockdowns and health measures, then shifting toward fiscal, monetary, and social protection interventions.
Policymakers must balance critical trade-offs among priorities and policy actions for health, food systems, and economies, and be prepared to act rapidly in the face of crisis.
Key Messages
Key Recommendations
Increase understanding of the interplay of health, economic, and social policy actions, and gather data and review experiences to aid decision-making and improve processes for policy coordination.
Develop robust public systems for the vulnerable, such as social protection, nutrition, and education programs that can be quickly scaled up and adapted when a shock occurs.
nutrition
Diet quality deteriorated during the pandemic due to disruptions in food supply, drops in demand for fresh, healthy foods, and increased consumption of cheaper, less nutritious sources of calories.
Deteriorations in diet quality could have devastating consequences for the health and nutrition of vulnerable women and children and cause irreversible development, health, and nutritional damage.
Key Messages
Key Recommendations
Strengthen and expand coverage of targeted social protection programs, like cash and food transfers, with measures to support demand for healthy diets, such as behavior change communication and vouchers for healthy foods.
Harness the influence of food environments to redirect food systems toward healthier food provision that supports optimal health and nutrition, for example, through taxes on unhealthy food products or regulation of advertising.
Environment
Food systems contribute to environmental degradation and climate change and will likely contribute to future pandemics and natural disasters that will, in turn, disrupt food, health, and economic systems.
The vicious cycle of unsustainable resource use and degradation must be replaced with a virtuous cycle of healthier food and ecosystems and greater sustainability.
Key Messages
Key Recommendations
Strive to build “nature-positive” food systems, which maintain or even restore ecosystem services by rethinking food systems in terms of “eco-agri-food systems.”
Identify and implement effective institutions and incentives for nature-positive food systems, such as multisector platforms, landscape management, and payment for environmental services.
Social Protection
Vulnerable groups, including the urban poor, informal workers, and women, have borne the brunt of food system disruptions, such as lockdowns, as well as loss of employment and incomes.
Expansion of social protection programs was unprecedented during the pandemic and was critical for many vulnerable groups. But many people were still left without coverage, and few programs were gender sensitive.
Key Messages
Key Recommendations
Build evidence to support policymakers’ efforts to strengthen food system resilience as a means to protect vulnerable groups from food and income insecurity during food system shocks.
Distill lessons and innovations from pandemic responses so that social programs and policies can be redesigned to reduce gender, ethnic, and other inequalities. Test and document local, context-specific innovations.
food supply chains
The pandemic disrupted food supply chains through government-imposed lockdowns and restrictions that affected labor and input supply, logistics, and distribution as well as by shifting consumer demand for food.
“Transitioning” supply chains — which are long but poorly integrated — were the most vulnerable. Modern, integrated supply chains were better positioned to adapt, innovate, and take advantage of digitalization.
Key Messages
Key Recommendations
Create an enabling business environment to promote investment by private sector firms of all sizes in food system resilience and transformation.
Promote food system modernization — driven by the private sector but enabled by the public sector — that enhances resilience and helps generate better employment and livelihoods along food supply chains.
final recommendations
Highlight the urgency and potential of creating resilient, healthy, efficient, sustainable, and inclusive food systems to address future crises and to meet the SDGs. Identify effective governance, policy, and private sector responses around the globe to point the way forward.
Use the pandemic experience and upcoming global events to put food system transformation prominently on the development agenda. Seek innovative financing for food system transformation, including through informed consumer demand, repurposing of public funding, and private sector investments.
What is the way forward for food system transformation after COVID-19?
Seize opportunities
Build support
Work toward environmental sustainability of food systems to reduce the frequency of crises. Improve communities’ capacity to predict and respond to shocks. Promote expanded and flexible social protection policies to safeguard vulnerable populations. Create effective, nimble, and, hence, resilient institutions, policy systems, and food value chains.
Prepare for crises
Improve access to decent employment, information and digital services, and education to reduce inequities that worsen crises. Increase capacity for participation in effective, sustainable food systems through better access to markets, finance, and basic infrastructure and services.
Include everyone
About ifpri
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. Established in 1975, IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 50 countries. It is a research center of CGIAR, a worldwide partnership engaged in agricultural research for development.
Learn more about transforming food systems after COVID-19 in the 2021 Global Food Policy Report.
Read the Report
Back to Top
Read the Report
Final Recommendations
Food Supply Chain
Vulnerable People
Environment
Nutrition
Policy Responses
Pandemic policy responses have followed a similar course across diverse countries — beginning with lockdowns and health measures, then shifting toward fiscal, monetary, and social protection interventions.
In the face of crisis, policymakers must balance critical trade-offs among priorities and policy actions for health, food systems, and economies, and be prepared to act rapidly.
Policy Responses
Key Messages
Increase understanding of the interplay of health, economic, and social policy actions, gather data, and review experiences to aid decision-making and improve processes for policy coordination.
Develop robust public systems for vulnerable populations, such as social protection, nutrition, and education programs that can be quickly scaled up and adapted when a shock occurs.
Key Recommendations
Policy Responses
Nutrition
Environment
Vulnerable People
Food Supply Chains
Final Recommendations
Read the Report
nutrition
Diet quality deteriorated during the pandemic due to disruptions in food supply, drops in demand for fresh, healthy foods, and increased consumption of cheaper, less nutritious sources of calories.
The deterioration in diet quality could have devastating consequences for the health and nutrition of vulnerable women and children and cause irreversible development, health, and nutritional setbacks.
Key Messages
Key Recommendations
Strengthen and expand coverage of targeted social protection programs, like cash and food transfers, with measures to support demand for healthy diets, such as behavior change communication and vouchers for healthy foods.
Harness the influence of food environments to redirect food systems toward healthier food provision that supports optimal health and nutrition, for example, through taxes on unhealthy food products or regulation of advertising.
Chapter 3
Policy Responses
Nutrition
Environment
Vulnerable People
Food Supply Chains
Final Recommendations
Read the Report
Environment
Food systems contribute to environmental degradation and climate change and will likely contribute to future pandemics and natural disasters that will, in turn, disrupt food, health, and economic systems.
This vicious cycle of unsustainable resource use and degradation must be replaced with a virtuous cycle of healthier food and ecosystems and greater sustainability.
Key Messages
Key Recommendations
Strive to build “nature-positive” systems, which maintain or even restore ecosystem services, by rethinking food systems in terms of “eco-agri-food systems.”
Identify and implement effective institutions and incentives for nature-positive food systems, such as multisector platforms, landscape management, and payment for environmental services.
Chapter 4
Policy Responses
Nutrition
Environment
Vulnerable People
Food Supply Chains
Final Recommendations
Read the Report
Vulnerable people
Vulnerable groups, including the urban poor, informal and migrant workers, and women, have borne the brunt of food system disruptions, such as lockdowns, as well as loss of employment and incomes.
Expansion of social protection programs was unprecedented during the pandemic and was critical for many vulnerable groups. But many people were still left without coverage, and few programs were gender sensitive.
Key Messages
Key Recommendations
Build evidence on policies and innovations to strengthen food system resilience as a means to protect vulnerable groups from food and income insecurity during food system shocks.
Distill lessons and innovations from pandemic responses so that social programs and policies can be redesigned to reduce gender, ethnic, and other inequalities over the long term. Test and document local, context-specific innovations.
Chapter 5
Policy Responses
Nutrition
Environment
Vulnerable People
Food Supply Chains
Final Recommendations
Read the Report
food supply chains
The pandemic disrupted food supply chains through government-imposed lockdowns and restrictions that affected labor and input supply, logistics, and distribution as well as by shifting consumer demand for food.
“Transitioning” supply chains — which are long but poorly integrated — were the most vulnerable. Modern integrated supply chains were better positioned to adapt, innovate, and take advantage of digitalization.
Key Messages
Key Recommendations
Create an enabling business environment to promote investment by private sector firms of all sizes in food system resilience and transformation.
Promote food system modernization — driven by the private sector but enabled by the public sector — that enhances resilience and helps generate better employment and livelihoods along food supply chains.
Chapter 6
Policy Responses
Nutrition
Environment
Vulnerable People
Food Supply Chains
Final Recommendations
Read the Report
final recommendations
What is the way forward for food system transformation after COVID-19?
Use the pandemic experience and upcoming global events to put food system transformation prominently on the development agenda. Seek innovative financing for food system transformation, including through informed consumer demand, repurposing of public funding, and private sector investments.
Highlight the urgency and potential of creating resilient, healthy, efficient, sustainable, and inclusive food systems to address future crises and to meet the SDGs. Identify effective governance, policy, and private sector responses around the globe to point the way forward.
Seize opportunities
Build support
Work toward environmental sustainability of food systems to reduce the frequency of crises. Improve communities’ capacity to predict and respond to shocks. Promote expanded and flexible social protection policies to safeguard vulnerable populations. Create effective, nimble, and, hence, resilient institutions, policy systems, and food value chains.
Prepare for crises
Improve access to decent employment, information and digital services, and education to reduce inequities that worsen crises. Increase capacity for participation in effective, sustainable food systems through better access to markets, finance, and basic infrastructure and services for everyone.
Include everyone
Policy Responses
Nutrition
Environment
Social Protection
Food Supply Chains
Final Recommendations
Read the Report
About ifpri
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. Established in 1975, IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 50 countries. It is a research center of CGIAR, a worldwide partnership engaged in agricultural research for development.
IFPRI’s vision is a world free of hunger and malnutrition. Its mission is to provide research-based policy solutions that sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition.
Vision and Mission
Learn more about transforming food systems after COVID-19 in the 2021 Global Food Policy Report.
Read the Report
