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Addressing the food crisis: governance, market functioning, and investment in public goods

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Abstract

The 2007–08 food price crisis has not only increased food insecurity around the globe, but also exposed long-term failures in the functioning of the world food system. Establishing a global governance architecture for governing food, nutrition, and agriculture as well as improving market functioning and increasing investment in public goods will be critical for the way forward. Three high-priority policy actions are necessary to cope with urgent needs for food and nutrition security and at the same time build a stronger food system that can respond to future challenges: (1) improve productivity and scale up research investments; (2) expand nutrition and social protection, (3) strengthen markets and trade.

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Notes

  1. The GHI is a combined measure of three equally weighted components: (1) the proportion of undernourished as a percentage of the population, (2) the prevalence of underweight in children under the age of five, and (3) the under-five mortality rate. The 2008 GHI is based on data until 2006—the last year with data available at the time of publication.

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Correspondence to Joachim von Braun.

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von Braun, J. Addressing the food crisis: governance, market functioning, and investment in public goods. Food Sec. 1, 9–15 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-008-0001-z

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