food insecurity
War devastates agriculture in Gaza
Two-thirds of the cropland in the Gaza Strip has been damaged by shelling, razing, and vehicle traffic since armed conflict began a year ago in the territory, said two UN agencies. The escalating agricultural damage exacerbated a food shortage, said the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN Satellite Center.
Vilsack says Republicans ‘just don’t have the votes’ for farm bill
The Republican-controlled House has not advanced a new farm bill because "they just don't have the votes" to pass a bill that is $33 billion over budget, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack over the weekend. Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow was more "practical," he said, by proposing a smaller increase in so-called reference prices and finding the money to pay for it.
Number of food insecure Americans soars 40 percent in two years
Some 47.4 million Americans — roughly one of every seven — were food insecure during 2023, meaning they were unable at times to acquire enough food, said the Agriculture Department on Wednesday. It was a 40 increase in two years, and while the report did not suggest factors behind the rise, it coincided with the end of pandemic-era food assistance.
Post-pandemic, global hunger remains stubbornly high
One in 11 people worldwide — some 733 million overall — faces hunger, as global hunger rates have plateaued since the pandemic, said an annual report by five UN agencies on Wednesday. The lack of progress added urgency to warnings that the world would fail to meet the goal of zero hunger by 2030.
Hunger worsens in global hot spots
From Haiti to Zambia, the world’s hunger hot spots will see rising food insecurity in the months ahead, said a United Nations report, urging prompt action to mitigate the crises. “We must ... act now to stop these hot spots from igniting a firestorm of hunger,” said Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program.
Drought imperils production of corn, a vital food, in southern Africa
Hot and dry weather has reduced corn yields throughout southern Africa, “threatening food security for millions of households depending on this key staple for a significant share of calories consumed on a daily basis,” said the IFPRI think tank. In South Africa, the region’s major corn grower, the harvest could fall by 18 percent from the previous crop, said the USDA on Thursday.
Food insecurity twice as high in U.S. military as among civilians
A quarter of the U.S. military experienced food insecurity in recent years, more than twice the civilian rate of 10 percent, said a USDA report on Thursday. Rates were highest among active-duty personnel under the age of 25 who were members of a minority group and whose spouses were unemployed.
Rice prices are up as India restricts exports
The global rice market is still feeling the impact of India’s decision last August to limit its rice exports in the name of battling high domestic food prices, said two IFPRI analysts. “Rice-importing countries in sub-Saharan Africa have felt the greatest impacts, scrambling to find alternative sources even as global rice prices have risen more than 20 percent since India imposed its restrictions,” they wrote in a blog.
Food insecurity soars 30 percent as pandemic aid ends
More than 44 million Americans experienced food insecurity last year, the highest number since 2014, at the same time that pandemic assistance was reduced, said a USDA report on Wednesday. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and anti-hunger groups called on Congress to protect funding for public nutrition programs, including WIC and SNAP.
SNAP monthly outlays drop 25 percent, says think tank
With the end of emergency pandemic aid, monthly government spending on SNAP has fallen by more than 25 percent, to an average of $7.9 billion, said the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on Thursday. SNAP households were receiving at least $95 less per month, the think tank said.
Report: Food insufficiency grew when SNAP benefits shrank
Two million SNAP households "faced food insufficiency" following the nationwide termination in March of so-called emergency allotments enacted during the pandemic, said researchers from the University of Pennsylvania medical school.
Kremlin uses Black Sea grain as blackmail, says Blinken
Russia is exporting more grain at higher prices than ever before while suppressing Ukrainian shipments, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday. “Every member of this council, every member of the United Nations should tell Moscow: Enough using the Black Sea as blackmail, enough treating the world’s most vulnerable people as leverage.”
A pause in world hunger, but elimination is unlikely
After steep increases due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the global hunger total of as many as 783 million people is relatively stable and the goal of ending hunger by the end of the decade will be increasingly difficult to reach, said the annual United Nations report on world hunger.
Debt deal toughens SNAP rules for some, eases them for others – White House
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed in debt limit negotiations with President Biden to exempt able-bodied veterans and homeless Americans from a 90-day limit on SNAP benefits, said two White House officials. But the agreement also applies the 90-day limit to so-called ABAWDS — able-bodied adults without dependents — up to age 55; the cutoff age is 50 now.
Debt limit bill is not the last look at SNAP rules
No matter the fate of debt limit legislation in the House, and its proposal to more widely apply a 90-day limit on SNAP benefits, Congress is not done with food stamps this year. Attempts to cut SNAP costs and eligibility will shift to the farm bill in coming weeks, said lawmakers on Tuesday.
McCarthy ties an increase in U.S. debt limit to work requirements for federal aid
In a skeleton list of demands for White House concessions over the federal debt limit, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Monday that Republicans "would restore work requirements that ensure able-bodied adults without dependents earn a paycheck and learn new skills." McCarthy did not specify which federal programs he meant but SNAP usually limits so-called ABAWDs to 90 days of benefits in a three-year period unless they work at least 20 hours a week.
Gender gap costs global economy $1 trillion in agrifood productivity and wages
Women are as widely employed as men in agrifood systems around the world, but their working conditions are often worse and they earn much less than men, said an FAO report on Thursday. “Closing the gender gap in farm productivity and the wage gap in agrifood system employment would increase global gross domestic product by 1 percent, or nearly $1 trillion,” it said.
Survey: Food insecurity rose in ’22 amid inflation, loss of pandemic supports
High food prices and a rollback of pandemic aids drove a significant increase in food insecurity last year, according to a survey by the Urban Institute that was published Tuesday. Some 24.6 percent of adults surveyed reported experiencing food insecurity in 2022, up from 20 percent in 2021. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>