A photoblog by Georgine Obwana – CSA Uganda In this ever-changing world, it is necessary to keep updating yourself, your knowledge, and your intellect, to keep up with the continuous growth and development taking place. This is exactly why the one week blended international course on Enhancing Capacities on Nutrition – Sensitive programing (NSP) has […]
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The Small Grants Programme Report is here!
Since 2018 SUN CSN has run a small grants programme, which invites interested & eligible CSAs and their members to apply for small grants, to implement and pilot small projects for research or innovation purposes over a 6-month period. Between 2018 – 2022 The SUN CSN Small Grants Programme has run four cycles of funding […]
ReadWe are all accountable
One year on from the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) summit, SUN CSN launches a social accountability campaign to hold stakeholders to account for promises made. The SUN Civil Society Network, along with the support of network members and global partners, want to see that the bold commitments we all made for nutrition become a reality! […]
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Get to know the Global Nutrition Cluster Technical Alliance
Who is the GNC Technical Alliance? The Global Nutrition Cluster Technical Alliance exists to provide systematic, predictable, timely, cost-effective and coordinated nutrition technical assistance to help nutrition practitioners meet the nutrition rights and needs of people affected by and at risk of emergencies. We provide expert guidance, learning and training, either remotely, through providing online […]
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The system is broken, now what? Five things we can do to make our advocacy demands a reality.
This September 2022, our members gathered again for a Virtual Assembly, the second of its kind. The objective was to agree upon the practical steps to deliver on a set of advocacy demands that emerged through a consultative process after our first virtual assembly. With the overarching goal to mitigate the impact of ongoing and […]
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Get Involved with the Latest CS Network Assembly!
Our first ever network-wide Virtual Assembly took place in May against the backdrop of ongoing global crises, which have seen food prices rise and access to adequate nutrition further diminished. Together, CSN members discussed how communities have been impacted and what we needed to change in the global food system to mitigate the impact of […]
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A new chapter for youth leadership on nutrition for the SUN CSN!
This year, the SUN CSN Secretariat is very excited to be launching the next phase of the successful Youth Leaders for Nutrition Program, and we’re inviting all CSN Members to join us in recruiting the next generation of young change-makers on nutrition. What does this new phase look like? Previously, the SUN CSN has supported […]
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Three things we learnt from the first Civil Society Network assembly
This week saw over 60 members of the SUN Movement’s Civil Society Network (CSN) come together from countries all around the globe in the first ever network-wide assembly to discuss experiences and solutions surrounding the current global food crisis and to create tangible advocacy demands as a network. The discussion was full of ideas and […]
ReadThe SUN CSN to host its first network-wide assembly on global crises
Summary The Civil Society Network Secretariat (CSNS) plans to organise a series of meetings with CSN Members to come together and share experiences and perspectives on how the global commodity price increases are impacting nutrition in different contexts. The event on May 25th will be offered as the first of an ongoing series of global […]
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Ukraine conflict highlights the fragility of the global food system and will have damaging impact on nutrition of the most vulnerable, warns SUN Movement’s Civil Society Network.
Members of the SUN Movement’s Civil Society Network are already reporting food shortages and escalation in prices due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which will have knock-on effects on the state of nutrition globally. The Russian Federation and Ukraine are among the most important producers of agricultural commodities in the world. Organisations such as […]
ReadMembers of the SUN Movement’s Civil Society Network are already reporting food shortages and escalation in prices due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which will have knock-on effects on the state of nutrition globally.
The Russian Federation and Ukraine are among the most important producers of agricultural commodities in the world. Organisations such as the World Food Programme get huge proportions of their wheat supplies from Ukraine, and many Civil Society Alliances are based in countries which also rely heavily on Ukraine and the Russian Federation for staple foods.
Laid bare during the COVID-19 pandemic, the overdependence of developing countries on food imports and farming inputs exposes them to price volatility. Higher costs of food production will be carried through to consumers in the form of rising food prices in a context where nutrition security for all is already a major challenge.
Worryingly, the resulting global supply gap could push up international food and feed prices by 8 to 22 percent above their already elevated levels. Any impact to food security is not only damaging in the short term, having dire consequences for world hunger, but will have a negative effect on nutrition progress in the longer term.
In Indonesia, Ukraine is the 2nd largest wheat supplier. This month they have seen a 46% increase in the price of wheat from the same time last year. Civil Society Alliance coordinator Rozy Afrial Jafar describes:
“Some large wheat flour producers still have wheat stocks for the next two months but there is a huge price escalation for foods made from wheat flour (instant noodles, bread, cookies etc) because of the Russian and Ukraine war.”
The situation is equally dire in East Africa, where Oxfam estimates 28 million people are already facing a food crisis. This figure is likely to rise even more due to conflicts, climate change, and covid, agricultural production in the region has declined dramatically.
Long-term solutions include shifting agricultural reliance away from industrial agriculture and toward agroecology, a type of agriculture that is more environmentally friendly and uses fewer chemicals. It is also crucial to examine global supply chains and reduce reliance on imports by encouraging local and regional production and food sovereignty.
While many countries are still recovering from the indirect impact of COVID on food and nutrition security, the war in Ukraine shows again the fragility of our global food system – with the more vulnerable paying the highest price.
