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COVID-19 and rural poverty

Supporting and protecting the rural poor in times of pandemic











​FAO. 2020. COVID-19 and rural poverty: Supporting and protecting the rural poor in times of pandemic. Rome. 



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    Social protection: effective and inclusive response and recovery in the context of COVID-19 in Africa 2020
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    COVID-19 poses significant challenges to an already strained rural context in Africa. The growing direct impact of COVID-19 is affecting health, in terms of morbidity and mortality, as well as quickly overburdening health care services with negative repercussions for non-COVID related health problems. But even before COVID-19 had spread in Africa, the socio economic impact was felt. The sharp decline in demand and production from the most economically developed countries where contagion had initially hit hardest – China, European Union and the United States of America – has caused a global recession, with direct repercussions in Africa. With the spread of the virus across the continent, containment measures including social distancing, closing of schools, the prohibition of gatherings, closure or limitations on non-essential businesses and economic activities, and border closures may have devastating consequences. These impacts further exacerbate a situation of increasing rates of hunger and poverty, as well as challenges affecting rural areas, including the desert locust outbreak, fall army warm impacts, early droughts, conflict and insecurity. The disruption of traditional transhumance patterns and the creation of new ones may lead to tensions and local displacement, and increased levels of poverty and food insecurity. Despite these challenges, the region has also made important progress in terms of prioritizing social protection as a core component of poverty reduction and rural development strategies, including in the context of the Malabo Declaration and Agenda 2063. This is a critical moment to scale up these efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and support longer-term recovery for vulnerable populations.
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    Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security in Africa 2020
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    In addition to its drastic impact to human health globally, the COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating impact on the economies globally and notably in Africa. Countries on the continent have taken various measures to try and contain the spread of COVID-19 such as lockdowns, curfews, closure of borders and other movement restrictions including quarantines and roadblocks, closure of markets, fear of animals, among others. Early indications suggest that the impact on agriculture and food security and levels of poverty and malnutrition will be significant if urgent actions are not taken. Although the economic impacts of COVID-19 will be more significant than the SARS epidemic, the H1N1 flu epidemic and the Ebola epidemic, COVID-19 impact on economic well-being will be observed through two distinct but similar channels. First are the direct and indirect effects of the sickness and mortality, which will lead to an increase in health care costs and loss of economic activity of infected individuals during their illness. Second, are the behavioral effects resulting from people’s fear of contagion and measures taken by governments to control the spread of the infection. The impacts of essential containment/isolation and distancing measures on social and economic well-being are yet to be realized and could have tremendous effects, notably among the most vulnerable.
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    Addressing inequality in times of COVID-19 2020
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    The initial direct impact of COVID-19 is on health, in terms of morbidity and mortality, with quickly overburdened health care services. The containment measures taken to curb the impact of COVID-19 have indirectly been socially and economically devastating and will significantly set back efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda, including SDGs 1, 2 and 10 on poverty, food security and inequality. Inequality between countries and within countries is strongly conditioning the direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and these inequalities will likely worsen due to COVID-19. However, rising inequality is not inevitable; national institutions, politics and policy can play key roles in both addressing existing inequalities and in reaching a more equitable response to the immediate and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This brief presents a series of general and policy recommendations to help prevent the rise of inequality during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. It urges countries to prioritize the reduction of inequalities and to take a medium- and long-term approach in addressing existing inequalities in order to ensure that eventual economic recovery will reduce the poverty brought on by COVID-19.

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