The dream of a world without hunger seemed achievable three years ago. However, with increasing challenges such as those recorded recently like the locust invasion and the novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) that is still wrecking lives across the globe, the future looks bleak.
Africa accounts for the highest number of people suffering acute food insecurity due to conflicts and tensions between communities.
According to the 2020 Global Report on Food Crisis (GRFC 2020): “In East Africa, armed conflicts, intercommunal violence and other localized tensions continued to affect peace and security.”
Moreover, “the upheaval that has been set in motion by the COVID-19 pandemic may push even more families and communities into deeper distress, António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, added in the Forward of the report.
Also Read: Crop insurance to ensure food security and poverty reduction
The global food policy report published April 7, 2020 by the US-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) concurs with GRFC noting that developing countries in Africa and elsewhere are predicted to witness an increase in food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With governments imposing strict measures such as limited interactions, many sectors are suffering and particularly the most vulnerable people who work in the informal sectors both, agricultural and non-agricultural. This in turn has disrupted human interaction, interfering with economic activities and livelihood.
The poor are at risk
Since the World Health Organisation declared COVD-19 a global pandemic, measures taken by governments all over the world are majorly affecting “smallholder farmers, market vendors, women and youth directly relying on their farm activities” the IFPRI report reads.
Thus, countries in Africa are today at a crossroad as they try to save people from the virus only to have them succumb to hunger, in the worst case scenario. It is an unbearable trade-off that citizens are also finding hard to deal with as many find themselves risking infection in search of food for their families.
Today, more than ever, governments and partners need to mobilize resources and work together within a set of strategies to tackle these and other challenges such as war to ensure every citizen has access to sustainable food.
Also Read: Africa Beyond Covid-19: Global Leaders Urge Government and Private Sector Collaboration
Although the Corona virus can affect anyone indiscriminately, poor and displaced persons are more likely to suffer the consequences of the virus. These range from inadequate access to food, to lack of sufficient resources to access healthcare. Additionally, some victims of the virus might be in remote areas where access to essential health amenities is limited.
Furthermore, the GRFC report argues that people struggling with food insecurities often suffer underlying conditions such as malnutrition and non-communicable diseases leaving them with weakened immune systems making them vulnerable to developing severe COVID-19 symptoms, and possibly death.
Without much support from concerned authorities, experts warn that more than 265 million people across the globe could be on the verge of starvation by the end of 2020. This number, the GRFC report argues, is double the current rate of crisis-level food insecurity.
Also read: Commercial bee farming could be Africa’s food security key
A region in crisis
The pandemic came at a time when East Africa was still struggling with the swarms of locusts that descended on major croplands in the region leaving a trail of damage in its wake. This in itself cost countries major resources and left farmers to deal with losses that are predicted to continue affecting food reserves in the coming months.
Although the FAO has recorded significant gain in controlling the desert locusts from further damaging crops, there is much that needs to be done to ensure that the effects of the pest are disrupted.
The UN agency estimates that through collaborations with local governments and donors, up to 720,000 tonnes of cereal have been saved in 10 countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Yemen.
“Our gains have been significant; but the battle is long and is not yet over,” QU Dongyu, Director-General of the FAO said. “More people are at risk of losing their livelihoods and worsening food security in the coming months,” Mr. Qu added while releasing FAO’s progress report: Desert locust upsurge.
Speaking to the Exchange, Verenardo Meeme, an independent science journalist noted that “this period [COVID-19] has been challenging for many households especially those who depend on agriculture to earn their livelihoods on a daily basis.”
This he says worsened the situation that was left behind by the desert locusts, which has had “a toll on food crop farmers and livestock herders.”
Although the UN agency has recorded significant success in the fight against desert locusts, FAO is concerned that a second swarm of locusts is expected to invade lands in the coming months.
“The first wave of swarms has reproduced and a second wave of locusts will transition from juveniles to the young adult stage in June, taking flight at a critical time when many farmers in East Africa prepare to harvest their crops.”
Speaking to SciDev.Net, Stephen Njoka, director of Desert Locust Control Organisation for Eastern Africa, noted that “climate change could be behind this invasion; for example, the current rains in Kenya are very unusual, making vegetation available to the pests and creating suitable egg laying sites in the soil.”
So far, FAO’s appeal has pooled up to US$130 million in funding towards control activities and to fuel activities targeted to supporting livelihoods in the affected regions.
Also Read: Africa Beyond Covid-19: Global Leaders Urge Government and Private Sector Collaboration
Mr. Meeme adds that governments must act now to support farmers and ensure that all agricultural value chain actors are cautioned as they continue to produce. This can be done by availing farm inputs for free particularly in the most affected counties. Moreover, all bottlenecks that will hinder future development should be removed. Monitoring and evaluation should be conducted to gather information on the effects and lessons learned from the two epidemics (locusts and Coronavirus).
“We can and must protect vulnerable people from the impact of multiple crises: conflicts, climate extremes, desert locusts and COVID-19, which threaten to cause a further dramatic deterioration in their food security,” Mr. Qu said. “To do this, we need to intensify our efforts further and focus not just on controls but on supporting the livelihoods of farmers and pastoralists so they can get through this.”
