Unlike foot and mouth disease, the avian flu, e-coli or listeria, the COVID-19 pandemic has not spread directly through livestock or agriculture commodities, and has therefore not directly disrupted on-farm production. However, the crisis is undermining the ability of farms and agri-enterprises to e...nsure consistent supplies of food to markets due to enforced closures, labour shortages resulting from illness, and slowdowns in operations caused by physical distancing and lockdowns.
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Strengthening resilient agricultural livelihoods
Level 3 responses are activated in the most complex and challenging humanitarian emergencies, when the highest level of mobilization is required across the humanitarian system. Even before the conflict escalated, the country suffered high levels of p...overty, food insecurity, undernutrition and malnutrition, water shortages and land degradation. Yemenis are also facing armed conflict, displacement, risk of famine and disease outbreaks.
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UNCTAD has prepared a rapid assessment of the impact of war in Ukraine on trade and development, and interrelated issues in the areas of finance, technology, investment and sustainable development.
The results confirm a rapidly worsening outlook for the world economy, underpinned by rising food, fu...el and fertilizer prices, heightened financial volatility, sustainable development divestment, complex global supply chain reconfigurations and mounting trade costs.
This rapidly evolving situation is alarming for developing countries, and especially for African and least developed countries, some of which are particularly exposed to the war in Ukraine and its effect on trade costs, commodity prices and financial markets.
The risk of civil unrest, food shortages and inflation-induced recessions cannot be discounted, particularly given the fragile state of the global economy and the developing world as a result of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic.
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An IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems
As more frequent droughts and floods threaten the global food supply, humans are increasing their demands on water and land,... The New York Times reports.
Data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report:
• 500 million people are living in areas that are becoming desert.
• Soil is depleted at 10X-100X the rate it’s being formed.
• More than 10% of the global population is undernourished.
Major threats include the risk of “multi-breadbasket failure”—simultaneous food crises on several continents—and migration triggered by food shortages.
Good News/Bad News: Catastrophe can be avoided, but it would require massive changes to agriculture, food systems and behavior.
A Key Action: Eat less meat. Cattle production is driving deforestation, consuming huge amounts of water, generating methane and causing other impacts, notes Nature.
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El Niño conditions persisting during the 2015/16 planting season have caused the worst drought in 35 years in Southern Africa, resulting in a second consecutive failed harvest. This has created severe food shortages and compounded existing vulnerabilities. Since July 2016, Namibia and Botswana have... declared national drought emergencies, in addition to the declarations made earlier by Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Madagascar issued a letter of solidarity with the SADC Appeal, and Mozambique has maintained a red alert in affected areas.
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The spread of COVID-19 poses a challenge for emerging markets such as those in Africa and Latin America. While governments around the world are suffering from a shortage of ventilators, hospital beds, and personal protective equipment, availability of these items is already extremely limited in some... countries. In Africa, countries including Mali, Liberia, and Burkina Faso have only a few ventilators available to aid their populations, and there is also a lack of reliable oxygen supplies, ICUs, and healthcare workers to treat the sick. Additionally, many countries in Africa are already suffering from food insecurity and weak economies, which will worsen the long-term effects of coronavirus.
Keeping these factors in mind, GeoPoll conducted a remote study in 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa on the effects coronavirus is already having on people throughout the region.
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USD$ 28 million allocated from UN Central Emergency Fund to assist people affected by Boko Haram’s insurgency.
Boko Haram, insecurity exert misery in Cameroon’s Far North Region.
Millions of people in Ebola-affected countries risk serious food shortages during the June-August lean ...season.
Significant drop in EVD cases recorded in March.
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MALAWI Food Security Outlook JUNE 2018 to JANUARY 2019
As the postharvest period continues, very poor and poor households in districts in the southern and central region will face Stressed (IPC Phase 2) outcomes from June to September. Most of these districts will transition to Crisis (IPC Pha...se 3) during the lean season from October to January, when food prices are at their highest and local cereal supplies are at their lowest. Drivers of the projected area outcomes include below-average access to income from casual labor opportunities and crop sales because of dryness and erratic rains during the 2017/18 cropping season, and above-average maize prices from November to January.
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Speech of the President of Caritas Internationalis to the FAO regarding food loss and responses from Caritas
Countries have shut down the economy to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Supermarket shelves remain stocked for now. But a protracted pandemic crisi s could quickly put a strai n on the f ood supply chains, a complex web of interactions involving farmers, agricultu...ral inputs, processing plants, shipping, retailers and more. The shipping industry is already reporting slowdowns because of port closures, and logistics hurd les could disrupt the supply chains in coming weeks.
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- Regional analysis of acute food insecurity: Current situation (February-March 2015)
In March, households in Lofa used fewer negative coping strategies than in February. The counties with highest levels of negative coping include Bomi, Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu and Lofa.
Negative coping strategies are most frequently used by the poorest households, by those living in Ebola...-affected rural areas and by households headed by women.
Imported and local rice prices remained stable. As the land preparation season advances, wage rates are improving (+3% compared to February).
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Chapter 9: Public health guide for emergencies
Conflict, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic effects of the Ukraine crisis are interacting to create new and worsen existing hunger hotspots, reversing the gains families had made to escape poverty.
It is our hope and prayer that the guidance and multiple tools provided herein to manage
the entire lifecycle of a food security program are useful to our food security staff, our
local partners, and our fellow international Cooperating Sponsors throughout the world.
A joint FAO/WFP update for the United Nations Security Council, January 2018. ISSUE N.3. Six months on from the last joint report for the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC), this report by the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) ...
provides an update on the acute food insecurity
situation in most of the conflict-affected countries
currently being monitored by the UNSC.
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