Super Tomatoes, Corn Wars Part III, and Wheat Woes

1,000 Days

Shyamkali is one of many mothers who benefitted from the 1,000 Days, a movement focused on providing proper nutrition during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. Nine years after one of her daughters was born, Senior Fellow Roger Thurow revisits Shyamkali and other mothers in India to see the longer-term impacts of the 1,000 Days movement on their lives. Watch the video below to learn more about her story.

Food & Agriculture 

Swine Fever 

The Philippines confirmed an outbreak of African swine fever in the central Cebu province and deployed response teams to detect the extent of the infection. Out of 149 blood samples from Carcar City in Cebu, 58 tested positive for the disease, which is highly contagious among pigs but not harmful to humans. The latest outbreak brings the total number of active African swine fever cases in the Southeast Asian country to 12 out of more than 80 provinces.

Crisis in Pakistan

A deepening cost of living crisis in Pakistan is making it hard to put food on the table. The government has been desperately trying to reach an agreement with the IMF to resume a $6.5 billion loan program, but IMF conditions are getting in the way. Food prices are expected to continue rising unless Pakistan receives immediate financial intervention. 

Wheat Woes

UN officials are worried Russia might not extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative, with days to go before the expiration of the vital deal allowing exports of Russian and Ukrainian wheat and fertilizers out of the Black Sea. Ukraine and Russia signed a UN-backed agreement last year, enabling the export of over 23 million tons of Ukrainian grain from blockaded Black Sea ports. The deal is set to expire on March 18.

Deeper Dive 

What Caused Pakistan’s Economic Crisis?

Pakistan’s economy has been in free fall for months. Inflation is on the rise, foreign reserves have plummeted, and the rupee’s value is falling. Caused by an economy that spends more than it produces and relies on external debt, the crisis has been in the making for years. This year, however, political instability and the summer’s catastrophic floods exacerbated the economic struggles, creating what might be Pakistan’s greatest economic challenge yet.

Resilience

Marine Breakthrough

After nearly two decades of work, UN delegates finalized the High Seas Treaty, an agreement to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in international waters. The deal covers nearly two-thirds of the ocean. Researchers laud it as an essential step for conservation that encourages international research collaboration while preserving marine biodiversity. 

DC Report 

Corn Wars Part III

The Biden administration is challenging Mexico's proposed ban on genetically modified corn from the United States, which threatens the country's agricultural trade and could harm US producers. Mexico plans to phase out genetically modified corn and glyphosate by 2024, and senior US officials have expressed concerns about the restrictions for over a year. The US requested consultations with Mexico under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, stating that Mexico's ban on genetically modified corn does not conform to the agreement's promises based on scientific research.

Big Actors

Protecting Forests

Heads of state gathered in Gabon at the One Forest Summit to adopt the Libreville Plan to stop deforestation as a solution to limit global warming. The One Forest Summit focuses on preserving tropical forests and biodiversity. The Libreville Plan includes a 100-million-euro fund and a mechanism for rewarding countries that effectively protect forests and their biodiversity and carbon stocks through "biodiversity certificates.”

Big Ideas

Super Tomatoes

A Cornell University's plant breeder and geneticist developed over a dozen new lines of naturally pest-resistant tomatoes. The tomatoes contain just 2.5 percent of wild tomatoes' DNA, eliminating undesirable flavors and other “negative” traits. Seed companies will have access to the new lines of tomatoes, but crossbreeding with their varieties could take up to five years before reaching the produce aisle.

Ask an Expert

What is the importance of the first 1,000 days on a child’s life? What long-term impacts did you notice when you revisited the mothers and children in your book The First 1,000 Days last summer?

"When I returned to Uganda, India, and Guatemala to visit the mothers and children featured in The First 1,000 Days book, it was clear how important good nutrition is in giving children the best possible start in life. The children are all nine years old now, in school, with ambitions of becoming teachers, nurses, doctors, police officers, firefighters, and civil servants. The nutritional practices of the moms – providing diversified diets rich with essential vitamins and minerals – helped their children beat the odds of malnutrition and stunting that are pervasive in their countries. Stunting, which hinders physical growth and cognitive development, is a life sentence of underachievement. Instead, the moms saw their aspirations coming true, a promise from their nutrition lessons: with proper nutrition, your child can achieve great things!" Learn more about the mothers and their stories.

— Senior Fellow Roger Thurow

Have a question about food and agriculture? Ask one of our experts at the Center on Global Food and Agriculture to get an answer in next week's Global Food for Thought!

Council Events

Did you miss one of our previous livestreams? Don't worry! They are all available on our website to watch at any time.

Other Upcoming Events

Food Loss and Waste in Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chains
Date: March 14
Time: 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. ET

Water & SDGs: Downscaling WATer Relevant SDGs
Date: March 21
Time: 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. CT

How Environmental Policy Impacts Our Quality of Life
Date: March 21
Time: 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. CT

IFAD Innovation Talk on Evaluation through the Lens of Brain Science: Building a Humanized Approach for Better Results
Date: March 22
Time: 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. CET

Science and Innovation for Food Systems Transformation – Follow Up to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit
Date: April 11
Time: 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. ET

Land Acknowledgement Statement

The Center on Global Food and Agriculture recognizes it occupies the ancestral land of the Kiikaapoi, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Bodwéwadmi, and Myaamia people. Indigenous communities around the world disproportionately experience the pressures of climate change, global conflicts, and the COVID-19 pandemic, while simultaneously stewarding 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity. These Indigenous tribes and nations are the original owners of this land and continue to be systemically erased by policies and practices that ignore their histories. To learn more about Indigenous foodways and practices, check out our 2022 blog series "Stewardship, Sovereignty, and Solutions."