Project Duration: 2009–2016
MOTIVATION
In response to the world food price crisis of 2007–2008, IFPRI, in collaboration with the EC, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and more recently PIM, launched the Food Security Portal (FSP) in 2009. The portal is a one-stop, open-access food security informa-tion website designed to provide comprehensive and updated international, regional, and country-level data, news, and research on food security. It has been instrumental in increasing developing countries’ capacity and access to real-time information.
RESULTS
Since its inception, the FSP has been equipping policy makers with evidence and analytical tools to address food security challenges. Expansions and updates to the FSP continue. New country-specific portals (Central America and the Caribbean, India, and Africa south of the Sahara) were subsequently developed, and a "Road To" feature on global trade negotiations was added. The portal also provides policy makers with alerts on daily price volatility through IFPRI’s Excessive Food Price Variability Early Warning System.
OUTCOMES
- By serving as a source of reliable, evidence-based information on global and local food prices for both decision makers and the general public, the por-tal has contributed to a broader understanding of events and possible policy responses. IFPRI produced 30 publications and disseminated findings through high-level presentations and briefings, resulting in more than 700 media citations.
- The FSP was visited more than 129,044 times in 2015. Moreover, governments have promoted the use and affirmed the value of the portal by placing its direct link on their own websites, including Bangladesh’s Ministry of Food Planning and Monitoring Unit and Nepal’s Planning Commission.
- Seven of IFPRI’s eight proposed urgent actions released in a 2008 policy brief were adopted as policy recommendations in the Comprehensive Framework for Action published by the United Nations High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis.
For more information on IFPRI's work in partnership with the EC, please go to this brochure.
