IPES report highlights global hunger crisis amid high debt

IPES report highlights global hunger crisis amid high debt

Subject: Environment

Section: International convention and environmental Organisation

Context: At least 21 countries including Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Lebanon, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Zimbabwe — were nearing catastrophic levels of both debt distress and rising hunger in 2022, according to a new report.

More on the News:

• Global public debt was at its highest levels in almost 60 years and countries were having to choose between repaying debts and feeding people, said the special report by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food).
• About 60 per cent of low-income countries and 30 per cent of middle-income countries were considered at high risk of (or already in) debt distress.
• The world’s poorest countries saw the costs of servicing their debt increase by 35 per cent in 2022, the report titled, Breaking the cycle of unsustainable food systems, hunger, and debt
• This pointed out how the food price crisis was entering a dangerous phase, a debt crisis that could plunge millions more into hunger.

International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food)

• International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems – is a diverse and independent panel of experts guided by new ways of thinking about research, sustainability, and food systems.
• Since 2015, IPES-Food has uniquely shaped the debate on global food systems reform, through policy-oriented research and direct engagement with policy processes.
• With 23 experts from 16 countries across 5 continents, the panel brings together ground-breaking thinkers on global food systems – including a World Food Prize laureate, a holder of the Légion d’Honneur, a Balzan Prizewinner, and two recipients of the Right Livelihood Award.
• IPES-Food is co-chaired by Olivier De Schutter, current UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, and Maryam Rahmanian, independent expert on agriculture and food systems.
• Comprising environmental scientists, development economists, nutritionists, agronomists and sociologists, as well as experienced practitioners from civil society & social movements, the panel takes a systemic approach that recognizes the complex and interconnected nature of challenges in food systems, and the power relations that shape decision-making.
• IPES-Food does not accept funding from governments or corporations, allowing the panel to deliver independent analysis that addresses the most pressing questions.