عمل كورونيفيا المشترك بشأن الزراعة

Zoonotic pandemics and the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture

الأمن الغذائي والأبعاد الاجتماعية والاقتصادية

10/05/2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented impacts on our societies and economies. In particular, these impacts have highlighted the vulnerabilities of agrifood systems and have shed light on the interlinkages between human, animal, and environmental health.

In a context of growing global instability and (re-)emergence of zoonotic diseases and pandemics, it is increasingly urgent to consider, discuss and address the links between climate change, food security and agriculture. The twenty-seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will take place in November 2022 in Egypt, provides an ideal opportunity to consider the issue of zoonotic pandemics within ongoing discussions on climate change and agriculture, in particular through the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA).

As a result of a recent collaboration between FAO’s Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment (OCB) and three young scholars* from the Regional Academy on the United Nations (RAUN), the research paper “Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture: Towards a more sustainable and resilient agriculture to foster post-COVID recovery and prevent future pandemics” highlights these complex interlinkages. The paper offers a summary of the existing evidence on how unsustainable agricultural practices can contribute to the outbreak and spread of zoonotic pandemics.  It also brings attention to the impacts that pandemics have on the socioeconomic and food security dimensions of agrifood systems, offering key policy recommendations.

Key takeaways from the research

Livestock production plays a major role in the emergence and spread of zoonotic diseases through various mechanisms.

  • Intensive farming systems, can increase the chances of disease outbreaks and spread if not properly managed (as a result of high concentration of animals, little genetic diversity, stressful conditions, inadequate antibiotic use, etc.)
  • The growing international trade of livestock and animal-source foods increases the risk of transboundary spread of infectious diseases and associated pandemics that can impact both animal and human health.
  • Livestock and crop production practices can contribute to zoonotic pandemics indirectly through associated deforestation and environmental degradation. These unsustainable practices increase the interactions between animals, humans and wildlife, and therefore the risk of pathogen spillover.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that zoonotic pandemics can also impact food systems, threatening food security and exacerbating socioeconomic vulnerabilities.

  • Mobility restrictions during the pandemic caused labour shortages and triggered disruptions in food chains and food production. Agricultural workers, in particular migrants and informal workers, were particularly affected with many losing their jobs and largely excluded from government and formal support programs.
  • High food price inflation, job losses and salary reductions aggravated global food insecurity worldwide, especially affecting vulnerable households in high, middle, and low-income countries.
  • Despite needing more nutrients than men, women and girls are often the first to see a decrease in food. Lack of access to education and school closures have prevented vulnerable children in low and high-income countries to benefit from the school meal programs.
  • Indigenous Peoples have seen their ability to sustain themselves strongly impacted due to the lack or limited access to land and natural resources, loss of livelihood and the disruption of local economies.

Towards more sustainable and resilient agrifood systems: recommendations

Available scientific evidence on the linkages between zoonotic pandemics and agrifood systems, and the disruptions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic highlight the urgent need to strengthen agrifood systems. Since agrifood systems are clearly interconnected with environmental, animal, and human health, they have enormous potential to tackle the climate crisis and reduce the (re-)emergence of zoonotic pandemics, which, in turn, results in more sustainable and climate-resilient agrifood systems.

The paper provides specific policy recommendations which include the need to:

  • Address zoonotic pandemics under future topics of KJWA;
  • Reinforce cooperation at national and international levels to address issues related to zoonotic pandemics and climate change;
  • Implement integrated crop-livestock systems;
  • Enhance greater consumer awareness on food production and the effects of unsustainable agricultural practices on the environment;
  • Adopt an agroecological approach to agrifood systems;
  • Create social protection mechanisms to ensure livelihoods in situations of pandemic emergencies for migrant workers, informal workers, small-scale food producers and Indigenous Peoples;
  • Ensure access to land and natural resources for groups in vulnerable situations; and
  • Facilitate financial support for civil society and community-led crisis response mechanisms

* Paula Roig (Autonomous University of Barcelona), Mario Ghioldi (International Business School of Budapest) and Eduard Grau Noguer (Autonomous University of Barcelona & Barcelona Public Health Agency)