Hunger and malnutrition are long-term problems facing the world. Recent food price rises have greatly exacerbated the difficulties poor people face in accessing nourishing food and have dragged up to 100 million people back into poverty. The World Food Programme's (WFP) 'pipeline' of emergency food has never been more important. WFP does crucial work at the frontline of humanitarian emergencies and in building the resilience of communities to deal with long-term hunger. Up to 20 million tonnes of food may be needed to feed new groups of people being pushed into poverty by food price rises. Significant increases to the WFP's budget are likely to be needed in order to secure this additional food supply. The usual annual total of US$3 billion in voluntary contributions may need to double to US$5-6 billion. Malnutrition is responsible for one-third of child deaths, yet it is under-funded and under-emphasised by the international community and the UN system. The Committee is shocked that DFID lacks a specific nutrition policy and measurable targets for assessing progress in reducing malnutrition. The establishment of the UN Taskforce and its Comprehensive Framework for Action on food security are positive steps. Agencies such as DFID and the WFP must look beyond the current crisis and address long-term drivers of food security. DFID should re-focus on agriculture. Reforms to the UN system are another important factor in improving future responses to food insecurity. There is scope for far greater integration of the work done by the three Rome-based UN agencies. Identifying the WFP as the lead UN agency on hunger would contribute to a more coherent international approach.

The global food crisis is a stark reminder of the fragility of the global food system. The Global Food Crisis: Governance Challenges and Opportunities captures the debate about how to go forward and examines the implications of the crisis for food security in the world’s poorest countries, both for the global environment and for the global rules and institutions that govern food and agriculture. In this volume, policy-makers and scholars assess the causes and consequences of the most recent food price volatility and examine the associated governance challenges and opportunities, including short-term emergency responses, the ecological dimensions of the crisis, and the longer-term goal of building sustainable global food systems. The recommendations include vastly increasing public investment in small-farm agriculture; reforming global food aid and food research institutions; establishing fairer international agricultural trade rules; promoting sustainable agricultural methods; placing agriculture higher on the post-Kyoto climate change agenda; revamping biofuel policies; and enhancing international agricultural policy-making. Co-published with the Centre for International Governance Innovation

Global Food Futures presents a highly accessible account of the global food situation up to 2050, tackling the widespread assumption that world agriculture will fail to feed a projected population of 9 billion.