Devex Dish: Will promises made at Nutrition for Growth mean anything?

Have you missed me talking about accountability? I’m back with more on that topic!

The “2021 Global Nutrition Report,” released Tuesday, includes a timely section measuring commitments made at previous Nutrition for Growth, or N4G, summits, held in 2013 and 2017. It comes just two weeks ahead of this year’s N4G, which was originally scheduled for 2020 and is hosted by the Japanese government to cap off the so-called Nutrition Year of Action.

COVID-19 has demonstrated why nutrition outcomes from N4G are more important than ever: People with health conditions such as malnourishment or diabetes are even more susceptible to the disease.

But this week’s report found that fewer than half of country financial commitments from previous N4G summits have been reached or were on track.

The lack of cash isn’t the only problem; there’s also a lack of data.

“When it comes to measuring the impact of those commitments, it has proven quite difficult,” Dr. Renata Micha, chair of the report’s Independent Expert Group, tells me. “There weren’t clear guidelines or instructions in terms of how these commitments need to get awarded or formulated to allow us to track them efficiently and effectively.”

Micha also discussed the report’s new Nutrition Accountability Framework, developed in hopes of avoiding another round of unkept commitments from N4G. She said the mechanism must include the rigor of strict metrics without being so burdensome that no one bothers to report. I’ll be watching the announcements from Tokyo roll in and taking note of whether donors deliver in the coming months.

Read: Under half of Nutrition for Growth commitments were kept, report finds

Devex’s American team will be off for the next few days to celebrate the most food-centric United States holiday of all: Thanksgiving. Health officials say it is largely safe for vaccinated people to gather with friends and family, making this year’s shared meal a particularly joyful reunion. I won’t be traveling to see my relatives this year but will share a Friendsgiving meal with some of my dearest in the Washington area. Don’t miss a Thanksgiving recipe from our community below, and keep an eye out for other holiday recipes in the weeks to come.

From your mouth

Last week, I asked what you thought about WFP head David Beasley’s Twitter pitch for billionaire Elon Musk to sell his Tesla stock and fund the agency’s operations to save 42 million people from hunger.

“I am surprised that Beasley has made such a rash comment,” responded Geoff Andrews from the United Kingdom. “So much of acute hunger is a consequence of political actions and particularly conflict. Finding solutions to chronic complex emergencies is essential to eradicating acute hunger and freeing up the global aid budget.”

ICYMI: Catch up on how the Elon Musk-WFP Twitter feud raised accountability questions and how it prompted WFP to explain its numbers and pledge transparency.

So close and yet SOFA

FAO’s State of Food and Agriculture report dropped Tuesday, and my colleague Rumbi Chakamba writes that it had good news and bad news. The good news is that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the food system proved resilient, with most countries retaining access to food and adjusting to supply chain shocks. The bad news is that the food system is particularly vulnerable to climate extremes and armed conflicts — and both are on the rise.

“The key message of the SOFA is that countries need to have absorptive capacity,” said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu.

Read: FAO calls on countries to make agri-food systems more resilient

Making the virtual visual

I hope you had the chance to join me last week for a virtual Devex event about the future of nature-positive agriculture for smallholder farmers in Africa. Attendees got to watch the conversation unfold visually, as an illustrator followed along and created this graphic summary of the discussion:

ICYMI: Explore how nature-based solutions can support smallholder farmers in achieving more sustainable farming systems and a transition to a net-zero future.

Number munching

That’s the percentage of people in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras experiencing severe hunger who said they intend to migrate, according to new research from WFP and the Organization of American States. Hunger in the region has almost quadrupled since 2019, when 4.8 million people couldn't get enough to eat. By autumn 2020, that had risen to 17.3 million.

Read: Food insecurity is linked to Northern Triangle migration

Today’s dish: Thanksgiving edition

From Chef Sara Farley, whose day job is being managing director of the Food Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation in New York:

“This bright, light, totally satisfying salad is the perfect citrusy, vegetal yin to a Butterball turkey yang," she said. "Even with the parmesan cheese, it’s such a healthy burst of green onto what can become rather beige plates at this time of year.”

With Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s all upon us in the weeks ahead, we’ll be gathering with friends and family to eat the dishes that are the most meaningful to us. What is your preferred dish to prepare for the holidays you celebrate? I’d love to share your traditions with our readers all over the world as the festive meals approach. Send me your favorites at dish@devex.com.

Cheers?

What would you talk about with Samantha Power over a glass of Moldovan wine? I’d ask her how she feels about locusts being added to the list of foods authorized for sale in the European Union.

Chew on this

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre contributed $5 million through a partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization to aid smallholder farmers in war-torn Yemen. [FAO]

Drought-resistant barley in South Africa could help increase African beer production. [Reuters]

Without changes to how the global food system functions, progress on climate change mitigation and adaptation will stall, writes Ban Ki-moon. [The Independent]