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In light of the uncertainties surrounding the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, policy makers must ensure that national responses to the virus do not trigger a food crisis. The Covid-19 outbreak can shift the balance between food demand and supply, especially considering many countries having declared lockdowns and their borders closed. Countries at the highest risk of suffering from a potential food crisis sparked off from the pandemic, are those in Africa. The following note elucidates how the current Covid-19 pandemic is affecting food security in Africa and some key African value chains (i.e. rice, maize, cashew etc.). This note also offers [...]

Agriculture is a key sector of the national economy of Ukraine, accounting for approximately one sixth of Gross Domestic product (GDP). The country became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2008, and signed the Association Agreement with the European Union (EU) at the end of 2014. This has led to new export opportunities in the agricultural and food processing sectors. At the same time, new policy approaches, instruments and institutions are needed to support further growth, as well as reforms to make these sectors more effective and competitive. Against this background, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and [...]

Forests cover two-thirds of the land area of Timor-Leste. The majority of the population lives in the forested uplands, and their livelihoods depend on agriculture and forest products. In the last decade, forest area has decreased as a result of unsustainable management, reducing the ability of forest to provide livelihoods to rural people and ecological services, such as water regulation, protection of soils and climate-change mitigation and adaptation. The first ever National Forest Policy (NFP) was formulated with technical assistance from FAO, and enacted in 2007. In order to promote sustainable forest management for the benefit of local people, the [...]

Recent COVID-19 outbreaks in wholesale and retail food markets, slaughterhouses and meat processing plants throughout the world underscore the continued importance of rigorous application of COVID-19 health protocols to minimize disruptions to the food system. This brief is focused on wholesale food markets (WFMs) – common facilities that group multiple food businesses involved in the sale of foodstuffs to food business operators. It offers a set of considerations for ways in which local, provincial and national government can collaborate with WFM authorities and food system actors to protect merchants, workers and customers and to slow the spread of COVID-19. In [...]

The impacts of COVID-19 grow daily. The pandemic has unleashed a crisis not only in health but also in economics. In such a scenario - in which achieving economic, social and environmental sustainability is increasingly essential for the planet - the agri-food system needs urgent and innovative solutions. In this regard, digitization is a recommended way to go. Digitization has become a fundamental engine of rural transformation, creating new opportunities for farmers. The future of agri-food systems will depend, to a large extent, on how stakeholders in agriculture will be able to take advantage of digital transformation to improve inclusion, [...]

On 10 April 2020, one month after the World Health Organization declared the spread of COVID-19 a pandemic, FAO published ‘How is COVID-19 affecting the fisheries and aquaculture food systems’ (FAO, 2020a). That policy brief, while global in scope, addressed the situation in some Asian countries. This paper provides an update, incorporating new data, developments and observations. During its writing, the pandemic was in full swing with no clear end in sight.

This fact sheet describes the course that covers food security policies and explains when and why they are required. The course also describes the process of food security policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a health and human crisis threatening the food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world. Hundreds of millions of people were already suffering from hunger and malnutrition before the virus hit and, unless immediate action is taken, we could see a global food emergency. In the longer term, the combined effects of COVID-19 itself, as well as corresponding mitigation measures and the emerging global recession could, without large-scale coordinated action, disrupt the functioning of food systems. Such disruption can result in consequences for health and nutrition of a severity and scale unseen for [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a serious threat to food security and nutrition. Economic turmoil caused by the pandemic threatens both economic and physical access to food (FAO, 2019). Declining incomes may make food, particularly nutritious food, less affordable for some, especially the poor. Disruptions to and possible breakdowns of marketing, logistics and trading systems could make food unavailable in some locations at some times. Hunger and malnutrition could rise.This brief will assess the current situation, provide some examples of how governments and other stakeholders are attempting to build more resilient food systems in response, and offer some broad policy recommendations. [...]

An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) visited South Sudan from 15 to 20 December 2019 to estimate the cereal production during 2019 and assess the overall food security situation in the country. The CFSAM reviewed the findings of several Crop Assessment Missions conducted from June to December 2019 at planting and harvest time in different agro‑ecological zones of the country.