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• While the rises in global food and fuel prices have moderated in recent months, domestic prices remain much higher than previous years and show few signs of abating. Higher prices have pushed many more people into poverty, but the increase in the number of poor is only part of the emerging costs of the crisis. The more profound consequence is the impact of rising prices on households who were already poor. For those already struggling to meet their daily food and nutrient needs, the double shock of food and fuel price rises represents a threat to basic survival. The poorest households are reducing the quantity and/or quality of the food, schooling, and basic services that they consume, leading to irreparable damage to the health and education of millions of children. • The effects of the food and fuel crisis on malnutrition and schooling can undermine years of progress on the MDGs. Early malnutrition, while preventable, has irreversible costs as malnourished children cannot develop into healthy adults. Estimates suggest that the total number of malnourished people worldwide could increase by up to 44 million in 2008 alone to reach 967 million, up from 848 million in 2003. This is a tragic loss of human and economic potential. Unhealthy, less-productive populations are less able to generate the growth needed to lift themselves and their country out of poverty. Iron deficiency alone is estimated to cause median losses of about 0.6 percent of GDP in developing countries. Progress in education

agricultural research centers that receive principal funding from governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations, most of which are members of the Consultative Group on

Submitted for consideration as an IFPRI Discussion Paper