Zane Swanson

2 weeks ago | features.csis.org | Zane Swanson |Caitlin Welsh

Just before the turn of the twenty-first century, a new strain of wheat stem rust emerged that posed an existential threat to global agriculture. Wheat accounts for nearly a fifth of the world’s calorie production, and a crop pandemic could have led to unprecedented levels of starvation. Stem rust didn’t just disappear—it was neutralized by deploying strategic crop breeding on an international scale.

2 months ago | csis.org | Caitlin Welsh |Zane Swanson

Policymakers frame U.S. food security in terms of the strength of the U.S. agriculture sector and the food security and nutrition status of Americans. The H5N1 subtype of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or bird flu, has caused unprecedented damage to poultry flocks in the United States and contributed to record-high egg prices.

Jan 21, 2025 | csis.org | Zane Swanson |Caitlin Welsh

Across human history, food security has been strongly linked to peace and political stability. While the current global agrifood system remains remarkably productive, it is increasingly strained by shifting environmental conditions, growing food demands, and geopolitical tensions.

Sep 11, 2024 | csis.org | Zane Swanson |Anita Kirschenbaum |Caitlin Welsh

In April 2023, fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces spread into a deadly civil war across Sudan. Now, 16 months since the onset of the conflict, extreme violence and restrictions to the flow of humanitarian aid have led to widespread acute food insecurity and the worst internal displacement crisis in the world.

Jun 20, 2024 | csis.org | Zane Swanson |Caitlin Welsh

Global leaders and policymakers continue to hesitate on the question of famine in Gaza. Some have called Gaza’s hunger crisis a famine—notably, the heads of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the UN World Food Programme, as well as the International Criminal Court (ICC)—while others continue to hedge, and no formal declaration of famine has been made in Gaza.