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). 

This paper, co-authored by Jeroen Candel of TABLE, reflects on how to improve the interface between science and policy in the global food system. It discusses the recent finding of a European Commission report that there is a gap in the global food systems landscape for a platform that integrates and coordinates food systems knowledge, and questions how such a platform might operate effectively. 

Apples and People is a digital exhibition telling the stories of apples from around the world and their importance to people and culture. The website includes stories about apples, an apple map, apple art, and written pieces. New apple stories will be released throughout 2021 and 2022; to receive these, readers can subscribe to the mailing list.