While there is increasing consensus in the academic debate on the regressive nature of energy subsidies and the necessity to reduce them, this is much less so for food subsidy reforms – not least because of the positive impact of food subsidies for food security. They make food affordable even...

This report aims to summarize the third edition of the World Bank FAO Knowledge Session series, including the topics covered, the countries featured and the impact of the various sessions. The report is also an opportunity to summarize the case studies and actionable solutions gathered and...

To effectively address the interrelated crises of food insecurity, malnutrition, climate change and ecosystem degradation, there is growing recognition that one need to transform the agrifood systems to deliver safe and nutritious food as part of healthy diets for all, while conserving and...

Malnutrition poses significant challenges to African food systems. Addressing these challenges requires synergistic strategies informed by a comprehensive understanding of consumers' food preferences and characteristics, which necessitates the identification of more homogeneous consumer groups....

Community supported agriculture (CSA) is a format for provisioning food, usually vegetables, where consumers are involved, to various degrees, in the production process. In this study of survey data, we explore differences between CSAs in Norway and the UK in terms of organisational models and...

In sub-Saharan Africa, child fostering-a widespread practice in which a child moves out of the household of her biological parents-can have significant implications for a child's overall well-being. Using longitudinal data from South Africa that includes individual tracking, we employ double...

The study examines changes in household food security and identifies their key determinants in Zambia by comparing the pre-pandemic period to the COVID-19 pandemic period. Using nationally representative surveys from 2015 and 2021 and the coarsened exact matching (CEM) approach, 8650 households...

This guide identifies what makes a PFM system responsive to nutrition needs, and what actions can be taken to develop a reform program in a capacity constrained context. Across the stages in the budgetcycle it identifies basic requirements that are necessary for a nutrition responsive PFM reform...

Why is in-kind aid a prominent feature of welfare systems? We present a lab-in-the-field experiment involving members of the general U.S. population and SNAP recipients. After documenting a widespread desire to limit recipients' choices, we quantify the relative importance of (i) welfarist...

There remains a lack of theoretical understanding regarding the effects of smart systems on people's eating habits. Furthermore, few empirical studies have comprehensively analyzed the impact of smart food systems on users, considering the users' environmental orientation. To address this gap,...

Over the last decade, there has been a growing demand for tools to support sustainable healthy lifestyles, including food choices. Through a survey, this study examined the influence of environmental nutrition information conveyed with aids such as nudges and traffic light labels through a...

Why is in-kind aid a prominent feature of welfare systems? We present a lab-in-the-field experiment involving members of the general U.S. population and SNAP recipients. After documenting a widespread desire to limit recipients’ choices, we quantify the relative importance of (i) welfarist...

Many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are experiencing a nutrition transition from traditional diets to high-energy, processed foods, increasing non-communicable disease risks. Digitalization of food systems plays a significant role in shaping this transition. This paper investigates the...

Purpose - This study integrates economic, environmental, and social dimensions into the distribution network for India's Public Distribution System (PDS). It aims to identify multi-modal strategies that balance cost efficiency, lower emissions, and community well-being....

At the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown in the Philippines in April 2020, the Asian Development Bank, in partnership with the Philippine government and the private sector, implemented the Bayan Bayanihan (BB) food relief program which served approximately 162,000 households...

This knowledge review provides an overview of initial analyses on the impact on food security and nutrition due to the sudden cuts in Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the USA and to reductions by other OECD countries. The review identifies the sectors most affected by expected cuts; it...

In 2010, the European Commission's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department (DG ECHO) published the 'Humanitarian Food Assistance: From Food Aid to Food Assistance' policy document, its first sector-specific policy, setting the foundation for the development of several other...

In the Philippines, children continue to face challenges in accessing healthy, sustainable diverse diets that provide sufficient nutrients for growth and development. This is especially critical given the importance of early developmental stages. The overall structure and functioning of the food...

This report proposes a framework in tagging nutrition expenditures of national government agencies. The framework was developed through exhaustive literature review and validation sessions with government agencies. It comprised of five levels (5) of classification elements namely: major...

We provide the first estimates of broad-based health transmission between parents and their young children in India. The correlations between maternal health and child health outcomes - such as anemia, stunting, and body mass index - are approximately 0.20. When aggregating these health measures...