Patrick Webb

I didn't expect this when I went to get my ladder! But life always finds a way...

Here's my version. Stunning colour combo.

Welcome back FEWS NET. The latest update on global food insecurity makes for hard reading, as usual: fews.net/global/speci.... Up to 45% shortfall in rain from long term trends in pastoral zones of Ethiopia and Sudan. Likely flooding in Kenya. But humanitarian aid cut like never before....

Strengthening responsible investments and financing for food security and nutrition Background note for the Committee on World Food Security’s High-Level Forum, October 2025, Rome, Italy

With 2.3 billion people moderately or severely food insecure in 2023, resources to #finance improved #food security and #nutrition are seriously constrained. This paper reviews financial flows in the conext of estimates for the cost of ending #hunger.

www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe...

Malnutrition in Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp after US aid cuts A UN official warns that hundreds of thousands in the sprawling camp are "slowly starving".

www.bbc.com/news/article...

New technical paper – Emerging EU policy impacts on African food systems – Global Panel The Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition has published a new technical paper by Koen Dekeyser from the European Centre for Development Pol

Interesting new paper from #GLOPAN on Emerging EU policy impacts on African food systems:
www.glopan.org/new-technica...

Our new paper shows how critical it is to use reliable data to achieve effective targeting and use of development resources: doi.org/10.1038/s414....

Sadly, the source of these data was terminated a few weeks ago. Draw your own conclusions...

Subnational variations in the quality of household survey data in sub-Saharan Africa - Nature Communications Household survey data is vital to health and development. The study describes and maps data quality in 35 African countries, finding that data quality varies and worsens with distance from towns, indi...

So excited to see our article in @natcomms.nature.com, led by Valentin Seidler & w/ Edson Utazi, @sluckene.bsky.social , Gregor Zens, Maksym Bodarenko, Abigail Smith (@alleghenycollege.bsky.social alum!), Sarah Bradley, Andy Tatem, and @patrickwebb.bsky.social.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

HLPE-FSN Steering Committee members visiting UM6P innovation spaces.

HLPE-FSN Steering Committee members visiting UM6P innovation spaces. Akiko Suwa-Eisenmann, Chairperson of the HLPE-FSN, and Patrick Webb.

HLPE-FSN Steering Committee members visiting the UM6P PHENO-MA platform for plant phenotyping.

HLPE-FSN Steering Committee meeting – Visit to UM6P innovation spaces. Marie-Josèphe Amiot-Carlin discussing plant responses to environmental conditions and crop productivity within the University’s Campus in Benguerir.

During the Steering Committee meeting, HLPE-FSN experts visited the UM6P impressive campus & innovation spaces, discussing applied research to support resilient food systems with students, faculty members & local stakeholders.
@suwa-eisenmann.bsky.social @patrickwebb.bsky.social @mjamiot.bsky.social

HLPE-FSN Steering Committee meeting the CFS Chair

🧵The HLPE-FSN expresses its sincere appreciation to CFS Chairperson Nosipho Nausca-Jean Jezile for the insightful and constructive discussion on the future of food security and nutrition, today, during the HLPE-FSN Steering Committee meeting at UM6P, in Morocco.

HLPE-FSN Steering Committee meeting

The HLPE-FSN is meeting at UM6P, Morocco, to advance its work on global food security.
Discussions include the upcoming report "Building resilient food systems", responsible investment, key challenges & critical issues shaping the future.

Grateful to UM6P staff for their support!

Trump’s ‘climate’ purge deleted a new extreme weather risk tool. We recreated it The Guardian has recreated a searchable climate future risk tool developed by Fema but then deleted

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Life expectancy growth stalls across Europe as England sees sharpest decline, say researchers Poor diet, obesity and inactivity blamed on decline with Norway the only country seeing a rise

England suffered the largest decline in life expectancy improvement across Europe between 2011 and 2019.

Hmmm...now who was in power in England from 2011 through 2019 (and beyond)?

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

And over at Wholefoods, nothing to see here...

Irish figures show €6bn drop in trade with Great Britain Value of imports and exports is now about €32bn, with chemical sector among those hit by Brexit red tape

And BREXIT was sold as a 'good idea'? What fools...

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

‘No signs of slowing’: US egg prices soar as avian flu rips across farms Wholesale prices have doubled over the past year as culls to stop spread of virus prompt shortages and rationing

Meanwhile...

www.ft.com/content/6bad...

US inflation unexpectedly increases to 3% in January Figure bolsters case for Federal Reserve proceeding slowly with interest rate cuts

Meanwhile...

www.ft.com/content/311a...

Series of 6 bar charts showing the breakdown of global land. 45% of habitable land is used for farming. 80% of this is for livestock.

Nearly half of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture.

Of this global agricultural land, 80% is used for livestock, despite meat and dairy making up a much smaller share of the world's protein and calories.

Meanwhile, egg prices.

Lovely day snowshoeing in the forest. Nothing else of consequence happening today, right?

Actually, it should read 10,000, not 1,000!

Proud to note that our 2013 paper in the Lancet series on nutrition has reached 1,000 citations in Google Scholar. Not a lot, maybe, for earth science and climate papers, but quite a lot for a single nutrition article. Great that it still has legs!

lnkd.in/eR8KXMxy

Our new paper tracking process (or not) on food systems transformation globally using harmonized metrics. A valuable accountability mechanism:

lnkd.in/ebRdbqim

Finally, some New England weather that allows for snow-shoeing. Yay!

Meanwhile, in Greeland...

The Abyssinians: Ethiopian-Eritrean playwright Banna Desta releases audio drama set in the Aksumite Empire A compelling new audio drama shines a spotlight on Ethiopia's ancient Aksumite Empire.

An interesting historical fiction nicely put together:

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Why power naps might be good for our health Many of us refuse to power nap, thinking that it might affect a good night's sleep later. But it may in fact be good for us.

I'm off to the couch. See you later.

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Starwatch: Venus will be exceptionally bright in gathering twilight The evening star reaches its maximum angular distance east from the sun, meaning it will linger long after sunset

Look up.

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Totally agree. Leave.

UK cut health aid to vulnerable nations while hiring their nurses, research finds Royal College of Nursing says Labour has a duty to fix health ‘double whammy’ by raising aid and funding for UK nursing

Its well past time to stop calling it 'aid' and talking about productive investments in the world's future as a whole. This perverse strategy 'aids' no-one.

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...