Dealing with Food Insecurity, on a Longer Term

Longer term investments are needed to enable the over 500 million small holder farmers in developing countries to grow more food, thus increasing their incomes and resilience. Credit: Miriam Gahtigah/IPS By Esther NgumbiILLINOIS, United States, Jul 16 2020 (IPS) African countries are beginning to reopen borders, and this is finally enabling many citizens to resume their normal life. However, there is still an urgent need for African countries to prioritize agriculture to tackle food insecurity issues that have been exacerbated by COVID and will continue to be an issue into the near future. According to the latest estimates by the United Nations World Food Programme, COVID-19’s compounding effects could drive 270 million people into food insecurity. While re-opening is something we have all been looking forward to, the truth is, without a COVID-19 vaccine yet, and without implementing strict safety measures, new waves of COVID-19 may emerge, as has been seen in the United States, forcing countries to shut down again, and again, and go through new waves of hunger and food insecurity for many citizens. Given this uncertainty, it is extremely important for countries to have well thought out actions, initiatives, strategies and articulated plans on how to address on-going and future COVID-19 related food insecurity challenges. African countries have the potential to produce safe, abundant, and nutritious food to meet the continent’s food needs, especially, when food systems ar...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Food & Agriculture Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news