http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/food-security/rss

Climate denialism should not blind investors and governments to the very real opportunities to be found in financing solutions

Among the many shocks currently facing the international development community is the new direction of the US administration on climate, and the implications worldwide for mitigation and adaptation efforts.

This is not uncharted territory. While a withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement is undoubtedly a setback, it no longer carries the same level of disruption as it did. The global community has become more resilient and will continue to advance climate action.

What happens when western billionaires try to ‘fix’ hunger in developing countries? Neelam Tailor investigates how philanthropic efforts by the Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the organisation they set up to revolutionise African farming, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), may have made matters worse for the small-scale farmers who produce 70% of the continent's food.

From seed laws that criminalise traditional practices to corporate partnerships with agribusiness giants such as Monsanto and Syngenta, we explore how a well-funded green revolution has led to rising debt, loss of biodiversity and deepening food insecurity across the continent

Parliamentarians from the UK and France urge governments to make strong pledges at the nutrition summit in Paris this week

This week, world leaders meet in Paris for Nutrition for Growth, the critical four-yearly summit that aims to tackle the scourge of soaring global malnutrition and hunger. As a group of cross-party politicians from the UK – the birthplace of Nutrition for Growth in 2013 – and the summit’s current host, France, we believe that the fight against malnutrition is an issue on which every policymaker should unite.

As official development assistance budgets diminish, it becomes increasingly essential for governments to invest funds strategically. Given that investments in nutrition are low-cost and high-impact, they should be prioritised and elevated on the international development agenda. We urge our governments – and other governments around the world – to make strong pledges on nutrition at the summit to save lives, reduce inequality and enhance global security.

Researchers say problem could increase number of people at risk of starvation by 400m in next two decades

The pollution of the planet by microplastics is significantly cutting food supplies by damaging the ability of plants to photosynthesise, according to a new assessment.

The analysis estimates that between 4% and 14% of the world’s staple crops of wheat, rice and maize is being lost due to the pervasive particles. It could get even worse, the scientists said, as more microplastics pour into the environment.

UN food agency received half its budget from US last year and is accelerating merger plan as a result of funding cuts

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) is closing its southern Africa office in the wake of the Trump administration’s aid cuts.

In a statement, a spokesperson said the office in Johannesburg would close and the WFP would consolidate its southern and east Africa operations into one regional office in Nairobi, Kenya.

First such request in 29 years blames economic hardship and climate crisis for high livestock prices and shortages

King Mohammed VI has urged his fellow Moroccans not to slaughter sheep for upcoming Eid al-Adha festivities as the country grapples with dwindling herds due to a six-year drought.

The request was delivered on Wednesday by the minister of Islamic affairs, Ahmed Toufiq, who read a letter on the monarch’s behalf on the state-run Al Aoula TV channel. He cited economic hardship and the climate crisis as reasons for the rising prices of livestock and sheep shortage in the north African state.

Makeshift hospitals and informal settlements deal with daily influx of those escaping the war in neighbouring Sudan

• Photographs by Diego Menjíbar Reynés

At the Joda border crossing between Sudan and South Sudan, movement is constant. Just 100 metres separate the two border checkpoints – on the Sudanese side, three raised flags welcome newcomers; on the South Sudanese side, a sign in Arabic and English marks the entrance to the country.

Women arrive carrying their children, with their belongings balanced on their heads. Some families bring bed frames, nightstands, food, chairs and suitcases, loading them on to carts pulled by donkeys and crossing into South Sudan to escape war in Sudan.

The entry point for refugees from Sudan to South Sudan; in the background is the border. In December, more than 5,000 people crossed this point each day

Abandoning vulnerable populations impacts everything from food security to fragile ecosystems. Plus, the symbolism of Serena Williams’ crip walk

Hello and welcome to The Long Wave. I have been following Donald Trump’s suspension of the US Agency for International Development. USAid is the world’s single biggest aid donor, and the decision to halt its work has sent shockwaves around the world. This week, I trace the effects of its potential demise on the Black diaspora. But first, the weekly roundup.

The UK’s food supply has been threatened by recent events, such as the war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic

Urgent action is needed to secure the UK’s food supply in the face of climate change-induced extreme weather, the imposition of tariffs and global insecurity, a report has warned.

Days after the US president, Donald Trump, warned Europe would be next for tariffs on trade after he imposed tax levies on Canada, China and Mexico, the report said the UK’s post-second world war food system was no longer fit for purpose, and the country’s food security was in a precarious state.

A photograph of Milagros ‘Corito’ Molina and her sons is part of a project exploring how a group of Venezuelan women went from weaving nets to using them

A woman on board a boat is a sign of bad luck; and if she is on her moon, bleeding, the sea gets angry. This is just one of the many superstitions of seafarers on the Venezuelan coast. But the economic, social and migration crisis has led to a change: a feminisation of fishing, traditionally a masculine activity. We, the all-woman Solunar collective, combine photography, local knowledge, journalism, anthropology and feminist activism to map this development, especially in the states of Aragua, La Guaira and Falcón.

The project, Luna de Agua, or Water Moon, touches on the natural cycles that affect the fisherwomen’s lives, such as lunar phases and tides, and cycles of the body. It speaks too, to the country’s economic crisis.

Andrea Hernández Briceño is a journalist and photographer based in Caracas and a 2024 Women Photograph grantee. The Solunar collective is an interdisciplinary team brought together by Hernández Briceño, Freisy González and Lety Tovar with support from Vist Projects

More than 150 Nobel and World Food prize laureates sign open letter calling for immediate ramping up of food production

More than 150 Nobel and World Food prize laureates have signed an open letter calling for “moonshot” efforts to ramp up food production before an impending world hunger catastrophe.

The coalition of some of the world’s greatest living thinkers called for urgent action to prioritise research and technology to solve the “tragic mismatch of global food supply and demand”.

Growers blame weather challenges in UK and Europe, which Met Office says will become more frequent with climate breakdown

Broccoli, cauliflower and other brassicas may be in short supply this spring as the mild autumn and winter has caused the crops to come up early, growers have said.

Any shortages will prolong the so-called “hungry gap”, which runs from April to early June, when very few crops are grown in the UK.