COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerability of our economies to shocks, and it has laid bare deep inequalities in our society that threaten to derail the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We are seeing millions of jobs threatened as global value chains are disrupted by closing factories and paralysed transport links. Governments around the world are looking for recovery options that deliver new jobs and businesses.
Few sectors are so closely linked to job creation as that of the food sector. It is the largest source of employment in many countries of the global South. At the same time cities depend upon imported food that is produced in far off countries and shipped around the world.
![Roughly the length of a finger, the insects fly together by the millions and devour crops. [Tiksa Negeri/Reuters]](https://storage.googleapis.com/cgiarorg/2024/04/Tiksa-Negeri-Reuters-640x428.png)