We expect to be eating peanuts, not extreme amounts of aflatoxins, and chicken but not E. coli. We expect that our salads are washed with clean water, and that the person who prepared the salad first washed their hands. We cannot, however, always assume the expected and thus need to be ready for the unexpected. Unexpected events can take the form of natural disasters, such as earthquakes or floods. They might also come from power cuts or amid sudden political change. Such events can disrupt food availability, accessibility and safety, leaving us exposed to increased levels of unsafe food.
Every year, the voices and discourses on gender equality and women’s rights become loudest around International Women’s Day (March 8th). The rest of the year, women’s voices are seldom heard and considered, especially in corridors of power. Men and women have distinct needs, and there are intersecting vulnerabilities such as poverty levels, ethnic affiliation, age, and disabilities which further limit women’s voices. However, the voices of women must be systematically and consistently included in all conversations, at every stage, and on all topics, especially when it comes to policies.
In March, GAIN attended the 68th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), an annual event held at the UN Headquarters in New York that brings together stakeholders from all over the world to discuss the state of gender equality and women’s empowerment, resulting in Agreed Conclusions.
Vending food products in flexible quantities (i.e., loose, as opposed to in packages) is commonly used worldwide in both traditional and formal retail outlets. While it has other advantages (e.g., reducing packaging materials), the main advantages from the affordability perspective are the ability to buy very small amounts (at lower cost) and to not have to pay the costs of packaging.
The global community is dealing with multiple and interconnected crises. 735 million people faced hunger in 2022, while two in three women have at least one micronutrient deficiency. At the same time, overweight and obesity are rising (1, 2). Over 3 billion of us – 42% of the global population – cannot afford a healthy diet
From the consumer perspective, product costs can include not only monetary costs but also time and effort costs of acquiring, preparing, and consuming foods: for the consumer, these jointly shape the product's effective affordability. The cost of time and fuel to prepare food is not insignificant in many low- and middle-income countries.
One of the simplest ways to alter affordability is simply to sell products in small package sizes. This is probably the most common strategy used for reaching lower-income consumers across product types and contexts.
In a cross-subsidisation model, one product is sold with a larger margin, with the excess profit used to subsidise another product sold at a smaller margin (e.g., by covering all or most company fixed costs with the higher-margin channel). BMR’s systematic review found several examples of companies using this strategy with the same product sold in different forms or settings to different groups of consumers.
[We, the African Heads of State and Government, commit to] redoubling our efforts to boost agricultural yields through sustainable agricultural practices, to enhance food security while minimizing negative environmental impacts. But perhaps there's more cause for optimism here than first meets the eye.
Imagine a classroom filled with eager young minds, ready to embrace the world's opportunities. Now, picture these same children and adolescents, their potential stifled not by lack of ambition, but by an invisible adversary – hidden hunger.
