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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic presents an exceptional and unprecedented challenge for competent authorities with responsibilities for national food safety control systems to continue conducting routine functions and activities in accordance with national regulations and international recommendations. In many countries, competent authority staff are largely working from home, teleworking being the normal practice, and all face-to-face meetings cancelled or rescheduled as teleconferences. It is challenging to maintain, without interruption, routine activities such as the inspection of food business operations, certifying exports, control of imported foods, monitoring and surveillance of the safety of the food supply chain, sampling and analysis of food, [...]

The FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean and FLAMA will establish a joint strategy to monitor and advertise the activities of regional wholesale markets and supply centres during this period of crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this newsletter is to periodically share the main prevention strategies adopted by the wholesale markets and report on their activities and operating conditions to guarantee the food supply since they continue to fulfill their strategic and critical role in the food supply of cities. By delivering objective information and electronic links, we hope that this document can contribute [...]

Africa’s participation in the global market for agri-food products has steadily expanded in the last half century, with exports growing by 4 percent and imports by 6 percent per year. However, exports are comprised mainly of cash crops (cocoa, fruits and nuts, coffee, tea and spices), which have relatively limited markets in Africa, while most agri-food imports are basic food products, such as cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, meat and dairy products. The vast majority of imports are sourced from outside the region (e.g. wheat, sunflower oil and dairy products from Europe; rice and palm oil from Asia; maize, poultry and [...]

As COVID-19 reaches a growing number of communities across Africa, governments’ efforts to contain the spread of the virus need to be accompanied by measures to minimize disruptions to the food system. To date, the emerging crisis is viewed primarily through a public health lens (as it should) and only gradually are national strategies, task forces and funds focusing attention on the spill-over economic and food security impacts. There are emerging signs of the negative impact of COVID-19 on the agrifood system, including difficulties in moving food from rural to urban areas, closed markets, rising food prices, loss of livelihoods, [...]

Many countries in the region already resort to adopting standard sets of measures for natural disasters or economic downturns to minimize food insecurity challenges. These include food price monitoring, food stock inventory assessments, but in other cases price controls and building up of strategic food stocks. Efforts are being undertaken to minimize logistics challenges by reducing or eliminating direct and indirect trade barriers and transportation costs. Other countries are implementing export restrictions to ensure local food availability. Finally, some countries expand safety nets and social protection systems if resources are available.

According to the FAO Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS), cereal production in 2019 and the estimated closing stock in 2019/20 are both near record highs and supplies in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and around the world are estimated to be sufficient. As a result, global cereal markets are expected to remain balanced and comfortable despite worries over the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, localized disruptions, largely due to logistical issues, have caused some snarls in food distribution systems and food supply chains in some domestic markets. Though the anticipated duration and magnitude of these disruptions are unlikely [...]

Notwithstanding an increasing demand for their derived products, roots and tubers (R&T) value chains in Africa remain loose, fragmented and informal, and many market opportunities remain unexploited. Some encouraging new investment initiatives in R&T value chains have recently been documented, both by improving the competitiveness of small actors of the value chains, and by building the capacity of financial services providers to design products and services that fit the specific needs of the mentioned actors. This policy brief provides recommendations for policymakers, including the development of incentives for investing in the sector, through the facilitation of the use of alternative [...]

The report summarizes country achievements in the Asia and Pacific region in advancing towards the 2030 SDG deadlines. These success stories involve FAO offices working with governments and partners in some 21 countries in Asia and a complitation of success stories from the Pacific. It was initially published for presentation at the 35th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC-35) in Thimphu, Bhutan (17-20 February 2020), but these achievements will be of interest to member countries and other development partners for several years to come.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast in January that the global economy would grow by 3.3 percent in 2020, however its latest outlook, in April, now forecasts a contraction of 3.0 percent, with no upside scenarios and numerous risks. The scenario presented in this brief predicts that if the anticipated global recession, due to the effects of COVID-19, were to trigger a reduction in the growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) of between two and ten percentage points in all countries in 2020, then the number of undernourished people in net food-importing countries would increase by 14.4 million to 80.3 [...]

The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is expanding daily. Governments around the globe are confronted with multiple challenges related to minimizing the devastating health impact and protecting human lives, and ensuring sufficient food supplies and the functioning of services to those most in need. All this while coping with the economic consequences of COVID-19, which is expected to push an additional 548 million people below the poverty line. Between present disruptions and future threats to the food supply chain, the COVID-19 outbreak has generated extreme vulnerability in the agriculture sector. It is therefore crucial to mobilize all available instruments, [...]