The New Experience Newspapers Online News Indepth, Analysis and More
The United Nations (UN), World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) have alerted of global food shortage if the coronavirus pandemic is not properly managed.
A joint statement issued by Head of UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Qu Dongyu, Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Director of WTO, Roberto Azevedo, stressed that all hands should be on deck to checkmate the looming food crisis.
They maintained that in the midst of the COVID-19 induced lockdowns, concerted effort must be made to ensure that trade flows as freely as possible, especially to prevent food shortage.
They stressed that it was time to show solidarity, act responsibly and adhere to common goals of enhancing food security, food safety and nutrition and improving the general welfare of people globally, adding that responses to COVID-19 do not create unwarranted shortages of essential items and exacerbate hunger and malnutrition.
Insisting that millions of people depend on international trade globally for their food security and livelihoods, they added, “As countries move to enact measures aimed at halting the acceleration of COVID-19 pandemic, care must be taken to minimise potential impacts on the food supply or unintended consequences on global trade and food security.”
The groups maintained that when acting to protect the health and well-being of citizens, countries should ensure that any trade-related measures do not disrupt the food supply chain, saying, “Such disruptions including hampering movement of agricultural and food industry workers and extending border delays for food containers, result in spoilage of perishables and increase food waste.”
They cautioned that restrictions of trade on food items could also be linked to unjustified concerns on food safety and that if such a scenario materialises, it would disrupt the food supply chain, with dire consequences for the most vulnerable and insecure populations.
“Uncertainty about food availability can spark a wave of export restrictions, creating a shortages on the global market. Such reactions can alter the balance between food supply and demand, resulting in price hikes and increased price volatility.
“We learnt from previous crisis that such measures are particularly damaging for low-income, food-deficient countries and to efforts of humanitarian organisations to procure food for those in need.
“We must prevent the repeat of such damaging measures. At times like this, more international cooperation becomes vital. In the midst of the COVID-19 lockdowns, it is critical that food producers and food workers at the processing and retail levels are protected to minimise spread of the disease and maintain food supply chains,” the statement added.
