Policy seminar: COVID-19, food systems, ecosystems, and the risk of zoonotic diseases
- From
-
Published on
24.08.20
- Impact Area

The COVID-19 pandemic—which originated when the novel coronavirus jumped from an animal population to humans, and initially spread in a wet market in Wuhan, China—raises many questions about the risks of such zoonotic diseases and the food system. Should we minimize the risk of zoonotic disease transmission by reducing our reliance on animal proteins? Or would it be more effective to reduce food system climate change impacts given their likely contribution to future zoonotic disease risks?
An Aug. 18 IFPRI virtual policy seminar addressed these and other critical questions on the interactions between ecosystems, food systems, and public health. Agricultural drivers are responsible for more than 50% of zoonotic infectious diseases that have emerged in humans. But with effective policies, agriculture and food systems can play a vital role in preventing such outbreaks.
One CGIAR is currently developing a new research strategy to achieve its vision of ending hunger through science to transform food, land, and water systems during the climate crisis. After an introduction by Claudia Ringler, Deputy Director of IFPRI’s Environment and Production Technology Division, speakers explored the agriculture-ecosystem health interface and zoonotic disease risks in light of the pandemic.
Related news
-
CGIAR Accredited to UNEA: Bringing Food, Land, and Water Systems into Global Environmental Policy dialogues
Multifunctional Landscapes Science Program09.07.25-
Biodiversity
-
Climate adaptation & mitigation
-
Environmental health
-
Food security
CGIAR, the world’s largest agricultural research partnership, has been officially accredited as an…
Read more -
-
How Digital Agriculture Boosts Crop Yields and Efficiency
The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)04.07.25-
Climate adaptation & mitigation
Digital agriculture is revolutionizing how we produce food. By integrating advanced technologies suc…
Read more -
-
Mapping for Resilience: How Spatial Data is Transforming Karamoja Cluster
Ibukun Taiwo02.07.25-
Climate adaptation & mitigation
Pastoral communities in the Karamoja Cluster (a region spanning Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Ethi…
Read more -