COVID-19 recovery is a chance to improve the African food system

Photo: COVID-19 mitigation could open new opportunities for agroecological innovation, here a multifunctional landscape in Ethiopia. Michael Hauser (ICRISAT), CC BY-SA

The World Food Programme has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could cause one of the worst food crises since World War II. It predicts a doubling of the number of people going hungry – more than half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. While wealthier people stay inside and practise physical distancing, the economically marginalised populations risk going out in search of food. They take decisions between livelihoods and life in the most extreme cases. Such food inequities show the need for system-level action.

So far, the global food system has proven to be resilient to the COVID-19 pandemic. Food is still being produced, processed and distributed. Unfortunately, the system’s underlying injustices and inequities continue too. Around 1.58 billion people globally can’t afford healthy diets.

These inequities are especially stark on the African continent. Even before the COVID-19 crisis, the African food system was ailing. Food is perennially in short supply. In 2018, more than 250 million people in sub-Saharan Africa experienced severe food insecurity, incomes for farmers are lower than anywhere globally in real terms, and more than 30% of children are stunted partly due to poverty and poor diets.

Read more: Malnutrition and epidemics are intertwined. That makes fixing food systems crucial

Africa’s food system is no stranger to crises. Droughts, El Niño events, pests and diseases, terrorism, migration, and political upheaval have all taken a toll. Crises like these shock the system, causing crop and food losses, pushing people into poverty and putting more people at risk of severe food insecurity and malnutrition.

Read more: How changes in weather patterns could lead to more insect invasions

Each crisis tends to be met with a response to mitigate the harm, but the system always seems to return to its earlier undesirable state.

The shock set off by COVID-19 is likely to be different. That’s because it is causing simultaneous and synchronised system failures that will erode economic opportunities now and potentially for years to come. For example, tourism will be hit by limitations on travel and gatherings.

What we see happening as a result of actions to contain COVID-19 is more like a global natural disaster.

It’s also an opportunity for a different kind of recovery. With less inertia resulting in a return to the previous state, alternative scenarios become plausible. In this respect it’s similar to the oil crisis of the 1970s, which changed societies fundamentally.

Going back to “business as usual” investments in agriculture and food systems could reproduce those systems’ inequities. Instead, recovery efforts should be geared towards creating a better future.

Researchers have already done the background work to inform this process.

We believe it is possible to redesign food systems to deliver healthy foods, allow farming families to make a good living, and support thriving societies while generating sustainable ecosystem services. The COVID-19 recovery is a time to put decades of data about this to work.

What can be three ways to improve agriculture in line with the sustainable development goals: to make systems resilient, sustainable and fair? Read more: http://gldc.cgiar.org/covid-19-recovery-is-a-chance-to-improve-the-african-food-system/

The Authors:

Kai Mausch, Senior Economist, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF); Michael Hauser,Principal Scientist and Theme Leader for Markets, Institutions, Nutrition and Diversity, CGIAR System Organization; Todd Rosenstock, Senior Scientist, Agriculture and the Environment, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF); Wanjiku Gichohi-Wainaina, Public health nutritionist , CGIAR System Organization