Food systems and diets underpin many critical challenges to public health and environmental sustainability, including malnutrition, noncommunicable diseases, and climate change, but sustainable healthy diets have the unique potential to reshape the future for both human and planetary well-being. The 2024 Global Food Policy Report draws on recent evidence to examine the role of food systems in driving nutrition outcomes and opportunities for transforming food systems to ensure healthy diets for all. Chapters by IFPRI researchers and partners evaluate proven and innovative ways to sustainably improve diet quality and reduce malnutrition, including ways to make healthy diets more affordable, accessible, and desirable, how to improve food environments, the role of both agricultural crops and animal-source foods, and governance for better diets and nutrition, all with a major focus on the most vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries. Regional sections explore the diverse challenges countries face and promising policy responses for transforming food systems for sustainable healthy diets.

This discussion paper highlights the interlinkages between nutrition and the environment across various dimensions from policy to impact. It focuses on diets and food systems, which lie at the nutrition−environment nexus. The paper illustrates how dietary trends and food systems are contributing to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, as well as how that crisis is exacerbating nutrition challenges. It also presents a range of policy options and practical measures that generate co-benefits for people and the planet. Furthermore, the paper stresses the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and innovative approaches in promoting positive change. In addition, it explores methodologies that can be used to weigh trade-offs in decision-making to help shift to sustainable solutions that support better human and planetary health. This paper is part of UN-Nutrition’s greater efforts to bridge the nutrition and environmental communities and related stakeholders that engage in food systems transformation.

This is the fifth edition of the Asia and the Pacific Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition annual report. This publication is led by FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) and jointly contributed to by United Nations' partner agencies (UNICEF, WFP, WHO), on the region’s progress (or lack thereof) to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (in particular SDG 2 – Ending Hunger) and the World Health Assembly (WHA) 2030 targets on food security and nutrition. In recent years, previous editions reported that progress was stalling, then regressing and then more recently pushing us further off track. This reverse was evident even before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in 2020. The decline continued and worsened during the pandemic and the data is captured in this report. Updated estimates on the cost and affordability of a healthy diet show that nearly 45 percent of the region’s population cannot afford one. Reducing the cost of a healthy diet and making it more affordable is a critical element for achieving ending hunger (SDG2) and also the other SDGs. This year’s report also looks closely at food security and nutrition in urban areas which will increasingly contribute to the progress in SDG indicators as the proportion of the urban population across the region is set to cross 50 percent in this decade.

In 2022, the world faced multiple crises. Disruptions to food systems from the protracted COVID-19 pandemic, major natural disasters, civil unrest and political instability, and the growing impacts of climate change continued, as the Russia-Ukraine war and inflation exacerbated a global food and fertilizer crisis. The growing number of crises, their increasing impact, and rising numbers of hungry and displaced people have galvanized calls to rethink responses to food crises, creating a real opportunity for change.

Asia is not only the largest producer of important food items like rice and vegetable oil, but also the largest importer of commodities like soybeans and corn. Additionally, more than half the world's population lives in Asia and thus the largest number of food insecure people are also in Asia. Food security is therefore a matter of paramount importance in Asia.This is the only book of its kind that will explore the range of important issues affecting food security in Asia since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights include discussions on the current state of production on food of vital importance to Asia such as rice, vegetable and fish, as well as information on their future trends in production and consumption. Two case studies are presented on how the two most populous countries in Asia — China and India — have tackled their food security. Topics which are an integral part of food security and not often addressed in a food security book include nutrition security, novel foods and food waste valorization. This is also the only book about Asian food security which will include specific chapters on the technologies that are likely to determine the future of food security in Asia, as exemplified by digital technology, biotechnology, physical technology like recirculating aquaculture systems, nutrition enhancing technology, and urban agriculture.Organized into four themes, the issues captured here are of special importance to Asian decision makers in policy, research, development, investment and education in the 'new normal' post-pandemic. As Asia is inextricably linked to the global food and trading systems, Food Security Issues in Asia will also be of interest to those outside the Asian region who need to understand Asian food security.

This decade has been marked by multiple, often overlapping, crises. The COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and the ongoing war in Ukraine have all threatened the fabric of our global food systems. But opportunities can be found amid crises, and the world’s food systems have demonstrated surprising resilience. With new evidence on what works, now is the time to rethink how we address food crises. Better prediction, preparation, and resilience building can make future crises less common and less devastating, and improved responses can contribute to greater food security, better nutrition, and sustainable livelihoods.

This report explores what a global transition to net zero could mean for Asia and the Pacific under a range of climate policy scenarios and provides recommendations. Developing Asia faces a climate policy crossroads. The region is highly vulnerable to climate change, even as it is an increasing contributor to the global climate crisis. This report models emission pathways based on commitments and pledges under the Paris Agreement and compares them with more optimal routes to net zero. It examines required transformations in the energy sector and land use and assesses socioeconomic implications. The report looks at policy costs, climate benefits, air quality co-benefits, and labor market outcomes, and discusses policies for an efficient and equitable transition.