US-based alternative protein startup Eat Just is planning to build a large-scale cultured meat plant in Qatar, with the support of the Qatar Free Zones Authority and investment from a state-backed venture capital firm. Eat Just plans to export to neighbouring regions as well as western Europe. If Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health grants approval for Eat Just’s cell-based chicken (produced by its subsidiary Good Meat), the country will become the second to permit the sale of cultured meat, following Singapore (see our summary Cultured meat approved for sale for the first time).

Ian Wright of the UK’s Food & Drink Federation, which represents food manufacturers, has warned that the just-in-time system on which the UK’s supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants have relied is “no longer working” and may not work again. In his view, the UK could face “permanent shortages” in the sense of not all products being available all the time.

International foundations, NGOs and government aid programmes are risking starvation in Africa by promoting “utopian visions of organic peasant agriculture”, according to this viewpoint piece by James Njoroge published by the Genetic Literacy Project. 

This book describes the extent and causes of “holiday hunger” in the UK, faced by up to three million children when free school meals are not available. It reviews responses to holiday hunger, including holiday clubs where children can eat for free during school holidays. 

This report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations argues that Indigenous Peoples must be included in debates on the future of the global food system, such as the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit, and that Indigenous Peoples’ food systems are in many ways aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

This report from the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture Intensification examines patterns of funding for agricultural innovation in the Global South. It finds that most (60-70%) of the approximately US$60 billion in funding per year comes from governments, particularly the Chinese government, with private corporations providing the next biggest portion (20-25%). Less than 7% of the overall funding is clearly targeted towards sustainable agricultural intensification.

This report from the Finance for Biodiversity Initiative (F4B) examines how finance and capital can be redirected to support the transition to a healthy, sustainable and inclusive food system. F4B has also provided an extensive literature review on the interactions between finance and food.

This paper finds that organic agriculture has the potential to increase yields in sub-Saharan Africa in some limited cases, but that in many cases, organic agriculture performs at similar levels to conventional agriculture (varied results, with some crops showing higher yields and some showing lower yields).

This paper reviews the literature on global food security projections up to 2050. It finds that global food demand is likely to increase between 2010 and 2050 (by 35% to 56%), while the population at risk of hunger is likely to decrease over the same period (range: 91% decrease to 8% increase).