Developing the knowledge base on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global food and nutrition security. A good understanding of the magnitude of the risks and potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food and nutrition security is essential for an appropriate response to contain food insecurity and malnutrition.

This section contains publications gathering the current knowledge about risks analysis and potential impacts of the corona virus on food and nutrition security.

Key publications:

Protecting the most vulnerable: Lessons from the fiscal response to the COVID-19 pandemic

World Bank - 2023

The fiscal response to the COVID-19 pandemic was unpreceded in scale, with the goal to save lives and livelihoods amid a rapidly unfolding global health, social, and economic crisis.Yet the impacts of the fiscal response varied significantly around the world – richer economies largely managed to prevent an increase in poverty among their populations, while poorer economies were less successful in doing so.

The COVID-19 pandemic and food security in low- and middle-income countries: a review

Agriculture & Food Security - 2022

This article discusses six cross-cutting lessons from the emerging microeconomic literature on changes in food insecurity associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The first part examines immediate or short-term changes. A subsequent section discusses longer term food insecurity changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic based on a study analysing changes in food insecurity in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi and Nigeria. 

Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2022

World Bank

COVID-19, along with surging relative hikes in food and energy prices, have affected every economy around the world. Yet the impact has not been uniform across countries. In fact, it has been a function of the policy choices made during the crisis. Similarly, a range of policies and actions today will be critical to a resilient recovery tomorrow. This report focuses on fiscal policy: how governments raise revenue and spend public resources.

Revisiting Poverty Trends and the Role of Social Protection Systems in Africa during the COVID-19 Pandemic

World Bank - 2022

The paper finds that the pandemic increased poverty in Africa by 1.5 - 1.7 percentage points in 2020, relatively smaller than early estimates and projections. Furthermore, the paper assesses and synthesizes empirical evidence on the role that social protection systems played in mitigating the adverse impact of the COVID-19 crisis in Africa.

Assessing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of rural people: A review of the evidence

FAO - 2022

The share of households reporting income loss due to COVID-19 in rural areas was as bad as or worse than in urban areas. The adverse impacts of the pandemic on rural livelihoods come through multiple channels, including through reductions in farm and non-farm enterprise income, wages and remittances.

COVID-19 and global food security: Two years later

IFPRI - 2022

This e-book is organized in four sections: food security and poverty; agricultural production and value chains; nutrition, health, and social programs; and policy responses and implications. Each section includes two types of contributions. The first are new syntheses of lessons on key topics such as country impacts, food price changes, value chain fractures, social protection case studies, and fiscal and monetary responses and policy recommendations. The second are new or updated blogs from the IFPRI COVID-19 series.

COVID-19 and Economic Inequality: Short-Term Impacts with Long-Term Consequences

World Bank - 2022

This paper examines the short-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for inequality in developing countries and the impact on food insecurity.

African Coronavirus Stories: Perspectives on COVID-19 Challenges to Livelihoods and Food Systems

AFSA - 2022

AFSA collaborated with 21 freelance journalists and writers from18 African countries. The book captured interesting stories about the adverse impact of COVID-19 on smallholder food producers, marginalized sections of the community and citizens in the local food web.

The COVID-19 crisis will exacerbate maternal and child undernutrition and child mortality in low- and middle-income countries

2021

By 2022, COVID-19-related disruptions could result in an additional 9.3 million wasted children and 2.6 million stunted children, 168,000 additional child deaths, 2.1 million maternal anaemia cases, 2.1 million children born to women with a low BMI and US$29.7 billion in future productivity losses due to excess stunting and child mortality. 

LIFE AMIDST A PANDEMIC: Urban livelihoods, food security and nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa

WFP, UN-HABITAT - 2021

The report provides a detailed analysis on the impact of COVID-19 on livelihoods, markets and prices, and food security and nutrition, as well as urban specific vulnerabilities for 49 SSA countries.

Consumer experiences of food environments during the Covid-19 pandemic

2021

This study aimed to understand the consumer perceptions and experiences of food environments and food acquisition practices across the globe during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. It identifies ten policy entry points to build more resilient food environments and harness positive dietary-related behaviors manifested through the pandemic.

The impact of COVID-19 on diet quality, food security and nutrition in low and middle income countries: A systematic review of the evidence

2021

This systematic literature review demonstrates the detrimental effect of COVID-19 pandemic and associated containment measures on diet quality and food insecurity.

Food Security and COVID-19

World Bank - 2021

The primary risks to food security are at the country level: Higher retail prices, combined with reduced incomes, mean more and more households are having to cut down on the quantity and quality of their food consumption. 

COVID-19 and Food Systems: Rebuilding for Resilience

Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition - 2021

The focus of this paper is on the policy priorities which are needed to strengthen the resilience of food systems. The conclusions drawn are generally applicable to all countries but are especially relevant to low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) as these are generally least able to cope with such shocks.

The Short-Term Impacts of COVID-19 on Households in Developing Countries: An Overview Based on a Harmonized Data Set of High-Frequency Surveys

World Bank - 2021

This paper documents the impacts of COVID-19 on households across 34 developing countries, accounting for a combined population of almost 1.4 billion. It analyses the cross- and within-country effects on employment, income, food security, and learning. The data reveals that pandemic-induced loss of jobs and income translated into heightened food insecurity at the household level, disproportionally affecting vulnerable segments of the population.

Impacts of COVID-19 on people’s food security: Foundations for a more resilient food system

IFPRI - 2021

This systematic review analyses the impacts of covid-19 pandemic on food and nutrition security.

The analysis reveals that the dimension of food security that has been most affected is accessibility. Both financial (affordability) and physical access to food have been disrupted, in particular in urban areas and in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

In contrast, there is no clear evidence that the availability of food has been affected beyond some initial disruptions. Finally, the impact of COVID-19 on the nutritional status of people is still poorly documented but expected to be substantial in the long run.

Overall, food systems ‘resisted’ the shock but hundreds of thousands of smaller or informal food system actors disappeared during the crisis. No empirical evidence is available to back-up the hypothesis that local food systems are more resilient than global ones.

To support decision-making, mapping the different sources of vulnerability that affect particular actors in food systems in low-income countries should be a priority.

COVID-19, the Environment, and Food Systems: Contain, Cope and Rebuild Better

UNEP - 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic is increasing poverty and threatening food security. Governments around the world have already invested more than $12 trillion to counteract the economic effects of COVID-19. This investment could contribute to progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but initial analysis indicates that investments for economic recovery do not sufficiently address food security and sustainability, concentrating instead on immediate economic concerns.

This paper analyses impacts from COVID-19 at the nexus of food systems and the environment. It proposes ways for governments and international agencies to mitigate these impacts and promote the resilience and sustainability of food systems through policies and investments that

(i) account for environmental thresholds and trade-offs;

(ii) promote food security and healthy diets;

(iii) enhance and protect rural livelihoods;

(iv) address the inequalities and injustices that have emerged as the world grapples with this unprecedented challenge.

The impact of COVID-19 on fisheries and aquaculture food systems: Possible responses

FAO - 2021

This FAO report (2021) looks at the impact of the pandemic on fisheries and aquaculture food systems on various aspects (capture fisheries production, aquaculture production, post-harvest, market and trade, vulnerable groups, food and nutrition security), and provides policy recommendations to cope with them.

While fishing and aquaculture and the distribution of their products are considered an essential activity in most countries, the measures adopted to contain the spread of infection caused significant direct and indirect challenges to the sector, as explained below.

The reduction of household demand, also influenced by containment measures (e.g. closure of food services, tourism sites, etc.) affects production, processing and distribution, and causes disruption in international and domestic supply chains, with significant consequences on a sector highly dependent on international trade.

The drop in demand, which in some cases has resulted in reduced prices of fish and fish products, has stopped or reduced activity for many fishing fleets, as their work has become unprofitable. In aquaculture, there is growing evidence that unsold production will result in increasing levels of live fish stocks, creating higher costs for feeding as well as risks of fish mortalities.

Fish supply, consumption and trade revenues are all expected to decline this year.

In terms of food and nutrition security, vulnerable fishing communities are becoming even more vulnerable. This is not only due to reduced consumption of fish caught, but to reduced income from limitations on livelihood activities, further reducing their purchasing power to afford a diverse range of foods to meet their dietary needs.

Impacts of COVID-19 on food security and nutrition: developing effective policy responses to address the hunger and malnutrition

HLPE - 2020

This issues paper updates and extends the HLPE’s earlier analysis by providing a more comprehensive and in-depth review of the main trends affecting food systems that have resulted from COVID-19 and associated lockdown. It also expands the analysis of the pandemic’s implications for the various dimensions of food security: availability, access, utilization, stability, agency and sustainability. The paper analyses that more than any other dimension of food security, food access has arguably been the most affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The HPLE makes 6 main policy recommendations:

1. Implement more robust targeted social protection programmes to improve access to healthy and nutritious foods;

2. Ensure better protections for vulnerable and marginalized food system workers and farmers who are disproportionately affected by the crisis;

3. Provide better protections for countries that depend on food imports;

4. Strengthen and coordinate policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic impact on food systems and food security and nutrition, including at the international level;

5. Support more diverse and resilient distribution systems, including shorter supply chains and territorial markets;

6. Support more resilient food production systems based on agroecology and other sustainable forms of food production.

Food Crises and COVID‑19: Emerging evidence and implications

Global Network Against Food Crises - 2020

This technical note provides an analysis of acute food insecurity and agri‑food systems during COVID‑19 pandemic.  On the basis of the emerging evidence, the note concludes that the compounding effects of COVID‑19 on pre‑existing vulnerabilities is causing a notable impact on the level of acute food insecurity of the most at risks populations, and that saving the livelihoods and ensuring food security and nutrition of vulnerable groups should be the priority of government and humanitarian/development partners. The pandemic further highlights the need for a sustainable and inclusive transformation of food systems.

Global Report on Food Crises 2020

FSIN - 2020

The Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) is published annually since 2017 to inform the Global Network Against Food Crises about the magnitude, severity, locations and trends of food crises.

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is having an unprecedented impact around the world, both in health and socioeconomic terms. By 11 April, 1.6 million cases and nearly 100 000 deaths had occurred globally (WHO, 11 April 2020). While COVID-19 does not discriminate, the 55 countries and territories that are home to 135 million acutely food-insecure people in need of urgent humanitarian food and nutrition assistance are the most vulnerable to the consequences of this pandemic as they have very limited or no capacity to cope with either the health or socioeconomic aspects of the shock.

Impact of COVID-19 on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN)

HLPE - 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is already affecting food systems directly through its impacts on food supply and demand, and indirectly through a reduction in purchasing power and capacity to produce and distribute food. These impacts will be felt most strongly by the poor and vulnerable.

COVID-19 and the risk to food supply chains: How to respond?

FAO - 2020

The pandemic is likely to create a greater burden for poorer countries and countries that are already experiencing food crises. They need international financial support, so that they can import additional food without getting themselves deeper into debt.

• Report

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Prepare food systems for a long-haul fight against COVID-19

IFPRI - 2020

In food insecurity hotspots, the combined effect of the pandemic, the locust invasion, and the falling commodity export price put food systems under threat and could trigger a global food crisis. FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero lays out a series of policy prescriptions that can help keep millions from starvation and fortify food systems for a post-pandemic world.

FAO-WFP early warning analysis of acute food insecurity hotspots

FAO, WFP -  2020

This joint FAO-WFP analysis highlights countries that are at risk of significant food security deterioration, and in particular acute hunger and associated malnutrition. The analysis takes into account all major drivers of food insecurity, with a particular focus on the secondary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides a forward-looking perspective, outlining the likely evolution of impacts over a period of approximately six months, aiming to inform urgent action to safeguard the food security of the most vulnerable communities in these locations.

COVID-19 risks to global food security

IFPRI - 2020

This article discusses the impact of the pandemic on food access, food availability, diet and nutrition, trade and food supply chains.
 

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