Accelerating Food Security, Nutrition, and Climate Adaptation with IDA21

The world faces escalating food crises, malnutrition, and climate change challenges, particularly in low-income countries. In 2023, more than one quarter of the world population were food insecure, and 36 million children were acutely malnourished, which represents more than half of the French population. The Global Hunger Index showed that the trend worsened in recent years, due to various overlapping crises. The situation is projected to worsen, as nearly 600 million people will be chronically undernourished by 2030 if current trends continue, with more than half of them in Africa. The countries supported by the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) are on the frontlines of these overlapping crises, with fragile economies worsened by climate shocks. As the IDA21 replenishment approaches, there is a unique opportunity to protect vulnerable populations by increasing investments in food security and climate adaptation. We ask the G20 – the world's largest economies – to increase their contributions to IDA and enable its replenishment goal of $120 billion by December 2024.

PROBLEM

Food Insecurity in IDA Countries
Image: IDA21 Policy Package: The “Focus Areas” Paper. WB, 2024 Malnutrition, particularly among women and children, has a devastating impact on development. It is linked to nearly half of all deaths of children under 5 years old and costs the global economy an estimated USD $3.5 trillion annually. Climate change exacerbates these challenges by disrupting agricultural production and intensifying food insecurity, especially in countries with low adaptive capacity, where subsistence farming is common and whose contribution to the climate crisis is minimal. For instance, smallholder farmers, who produce approximately one-third of the world’s food (with this share increasing in Africa and Asia), are often the most vulnerable to weather extremes and climate shocks, yet they lack access to adaptive strategies and technologies. An under- or malnourished population is also more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and tackling food security and nutrition is fundamental to building sustainable and just climate change adaptation policies and strategies.

However, funding remains insufficient to meet growing needs and demand, as demonstrated by the number of requests of World Bank food crisis funds. And a significant increase in IDA commitments is needed to meet both immediate needs and foster long-term resilience. Without expanded support, countries will struggle to scale nutrition and climate adaptation interventions. Concessional IDA financing is critical to building resilient food systems and protecting human capital.

OPPORTUNITY 

IDA: A Critical Source of Financing for Global Resilience

IDA is the largest source of concessional financing for low-income countries, delivering grants and low-interest loans, currently 77 nations among the poorest and most climate-vulnerable ones in the world. Each dollar invested in IDA generates USD $3.50 in leveraged financing, maximizing the impact of donor contributions to both short-term crisis response and long-term development.

IDA has been a leader in addressing global food insecurity, for instance through its Global Crisis Response Framework (GCRF), it increased its commitments last year to USD $45 billion to support countries in tackling rising global food prices, empowering women and supporting climate-resilient agriculture among other critical areas. This support is expected to benefit 335 million people, of which 53% are women. 

Since its introduction as a Special Theme in IDA16, climate change has been mainstreamed across the IDA portfolio. IDA has scaled up support to countries to tackle the climate crisis, with a particular focus on climate adaptation. In contrast with global climate finance trends, where mitigation still constitutes about 60% of total public climate finance, adaptation co-benefits of IDA reached 53% in Fiscal Year 2023. Moreover, from July 2023, all new IDA operations are designed to be aligned with the Paris Agreement.

Given the enormous gap between global needs for climate adaptation and the available financing, it is critical to unlock the full potential of IDA for long-term, sustainable solutions. The upcoming IDA21 replenishment is a pivotal moment for donors and stakeholders to commit to the necessary financing levels, i.e. a real term increase. Increased funding will enable IDA to bolster nutrition-specific investments, and prioritize maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN) along with transparent reporting and data collection — all ensuring the most vulnerable populations receive the support they need to thrive.

Image: World Bank, Fiscal Year 2023

SOLUTION 

Why Increasing Commitments to IDA is a Window for Transformative Action

IDA plays a key role in addressing the structural causes of food insecurity, such as fragility and environmental degradation. The IDA21 replenishment provides a unique opportunity to increase investments in food security and nutrition, which are critical to improving resilience. Key actions include:

• Integrating Nutrition into Climate Resilience Strategies: IDA21 should prioritize nutrition interventions within climate adaptation efforts, and at the same time support comprehensive climate adaptation plans that include actions to reduce malnutrition. This includes maternal and child nutrition services, climate-smart agriculture strategies, the promotion of drought-resistant crops, and improved irrigation systems to buffer against climate shocks.
• Expanding Crisis Response Financing: The CRW and ERF must be expanded by at least 50% to ensure that countries can respond swiftly to emerging food and nutrition crises. In IDA20, demand for food security-related financing quickly exceeded available resources, demonstrating the urgent need for higher ceilings on these funds.
• Supporting Holistic Crisis Preparedness Plans: IDA21 should help countries develop crisis preparedness plans that include early action and preventive nutrition measures, such as timely detection of malnutrition, cash transfers, and food assistance, backed by advanced warning systems.
• Increasing contribution to IDA: As food security and climate adaptation are among the main priorities of IDA, supporting IDA’s replenishment goal of $120 billion, on the best terms possible for the poorest countries, is key to help low-income countries navigate the complex, interconnected challenges of climate change, food insecurity, and malnutrition. This requires donors to increase in real terms their contributions to IDA. 

By increasing commitments to IDA, the global community can drastically increase the adaptive capacity of low-income countries. . In doing so, we can lay the groundwork for a future where food systems are resilient, communities are empowered, and the world is on track to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.