Global Scans · Zero Hunger · Weekly Summary

In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

• [New] The World Bank reports a 46% monthly spike in fertilizer costs, threatening food security that could send 45 million people into acute hunger. investing.com
• [New] The burden on developing countries will not only come in the form of energy prices, but also lasting impacts on fertilizer consumption, food security, and food prices, which Birol emphasized is a global problem. MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• [New] Globally, an estimated 363 million people are at risk of acute hunger in 2026 - a rising number with growing conflicts and climate change effects, especially heat waves and droughts, that challenge food production and access in developing and unstable countries. RBC
• [New] Layering in climate risk, 2026's food production outlook has flipped from benign to another accelerant to rising global hunger. RBC
• [New] Nearly half of the world's traded urea - the most widely used fertiliser - and large volumes of other fertilisers are exported from Gulf countries via the Strait of Hormuz, making global agriculture highly exposed to any disruption there. Al Jazeera
• [New] Fertiliser continues to play a central role in global food security, and recent geopolitical events in Iran have once again underlined just how exposed agriculture is to disruptions in energy and nutrient markets. All About Feed
• [New] If the spring planting season goes awry because of the energy and fertilizer turmoil, hunger and starvation will spread around the world. The Globe and Mail
• [New] Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz - a critical artery for global trade that handles about 30% of the world's fertilizer shipments - are sending shockwaves through fertilizer markets, driving prices up and raising serious questions about food security. African Mining Week 2025
• [New] In Nigeria, approximately 70% of farmers rely on rainfall for farming, the effects of climate change are expected to reduce rainfall, leading to food shortages and hunger. PubMed Central (PMC)
• [New] Consumers responded positively to cultured meat in terms of its global potential to solve hunger problems in developing countries with insufficient nutritional intake. PubMed Central (PMC)
• [New] The increasing significance of precision fermentation presents important opportunities to enhance global nutrition, support human well-being, and contribute to the development of resilient and sustainable food systems. PubMed Central (PMC)
• [New] For agriculture, 2026 is identified as a pivotal year, with export turnover expected to reach USD 73-74 billion, up USD 4 billion from 2025. vietnamlawmagazine.vn
• [New] Agricultural co-operatives could unleash growth in the UK and improve national food security in the face of crises such as the Middle East conflict by improving the resilience of UK farms. The Guardian
• [New] Prolonged disruption could escalate into a global food security crisis. CNS Media
• [New] Millets are expected to play a major role in global food security and hunger alleviation due to their high nutritional value and wide adaptability to the agro-ecological environment. Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sc
• [New] Food security takes the largest share at $407 million, a sum that reflects the scale of the immediate threat: one in 10 newly arrived Sudanese refugee children in Chad is malnourished on arrival. The Borgen Project
• [New] The Emerging Opportunities Program provides up to $1,000,000 per fiscal year (to a maximum of $2,000,000 per project) to support innovation and significant growth in Alberta's value-added agriculture sector. helloDarwin
• [New] Fermentation will continue to play a central role in delivering reliable nutrition for a growing global population. CNS Media
• [New] PepsiCo has made public commitments to implementing regenerative, restorative, or protective practices across 10 million acres globally by 2030 and has a goal to reduce Scope 3 forest, land, and agriculture GHG emissions by 30% by 2030 (from a 2022 baseline). CNS Media
• [New] Protecting the future of agriculture and ensuring global food security will require not only building on-farm resilience but also ... a decisive transition away from a high-emissions future, the UN agencies conclude. UN News
• [New] Fertiberia has agreed to progressively supply PepsiCo with up to 150,000 metric tons of its Impact Zero crop nutrition solutions annually by 2030. / Spain CNS Media
• [New] With Government of India data estimating over 15,000 village markets in the state of Bihar alone, the potential scale of food waste represents a significant and under-recognised threat to rural food and nutrition security. The University of Sheffield
• Enhancing measures to limit the increase in global temperatures could significantly progress toward many other SDGs, such as reducing poverty and hunger, increasing water availability, and protecting terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Scientific Research Publishing

Last updated: 18 May 2026