On November 13, 2009, Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General, Jacques Diouf, embarked on a 24-hour public hunger strike, in the lead up to this week’s World Summit on Food Security in Rome.

Food prices have fallen significantly from their peak last year — but that doesn’t mean that policymakers can start to heave a sigh of relief. 

Governments worldwide are preoccupied by the global financial crisis as they struggle to determine how to stabilize national markets and cooperate with other countries. 

Our World 2.0 is a webzine and video brief series from the United Nations University. We focus on global affairs—beginning with climate, oil, food and biodiversity—at a time when we are witnessing a convergence of these issues.

Does oil priced at over $140 per barrel signal the arrival of Peak Oil? The experts disagree on the cause of the price jump but agree on one message: The era of easy oil is over.

The World Bank recently warned that food prices are increasing at a dramatic pace, having already doubled over the last three years. They predict that 100 million people in low-income countries are now at risk of being pushed deeper into poverty.