Around the world, food insecurity is spiking. Experts predict that the number of people affected by food insecurity will double during the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout Africa, governments struggle to provide for the neediest.
In Burkina Faso, which at one point had the highest number of deaths from COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 2.1 million people do not have enough to eat. In Kenya, people are fighting over their next meal. In South Africa, the police have clashed with residents who had not received rations of rice, beans, oil and other supplies.
Though African nations are being gravely affected, similar problems arise globally.
In Phoenix, Arizona, vehicles begin lining up two hours before boxes with non-perishables are distributed. In Ohio, more than 4,000 people waited for hours to pick up packages of cereal, oatmeal and pasta.
Leaders have to urgently find ways to ensure sufficient food supply and its distribution during the COVID-19 crisis. Because of lockdowns, lost incomes and the infectious disease itself, hunger will rise. As developed and developing countries are equally affected, the international community must find solutions together.
Data analytics is the key to tracking food insecurity. Real-time mapping tool such as the data dashboard developed at Johns Hopkins University to track confirmed COVID-19 cases are needed for food insecurity as well. Governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and others on the front lines of the fight against hunger should support the effort.
After all, timely information is vital to eliminating the problem. Real-time data can help advise local and national leaders, food banks and NGOs how to prepare for and respond to emerging needs. For example, farmers who have excess perishables can report them, and shipments can be arranged to redistribute the produce to communities and households in need.
Likewise, targeted policies are essential. Leaders must establish initiatives to ensure that people know where they can get their next meal.
In the US, the US$2 trillion stimulus adopted in March will help, to the extent that it supports household incomes. In April, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a US$170 million initiative to counter food insecurity. Other US states are launching similar efforts, too.
In Africa, policymakers must make food security a top priority while stay-at-home orders are in effect. Citizens should not have to compete with each other for their next meal. Governments need to pass stimulus packages which help all citizens, or seek aid that provides necessary funds.
While pay cuts like those accepted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, his Cabinet ministers and South African business leaders are symbolically important, governments must provide cash or sustenance for their citizens. Many who had lived hand-to-mouth before the crisis now face a choice between starvation and risk of infection.
Asking people to stay at home without providing resources is both immoral and unlikely to work. Finding creative ways to distribute aid during the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial.
For example, Vietnam introduced automatic rice dispensing machines. More such innovations are needed. Most importantly world leaders must remove trade barriers, so that supply can continue to flow across borders — a point that the chief executives of Unilever, Nestle, PepsiCo and other companies have emphasized.
The pandemic has a global impact and citizens have do their part to mitigate the influence on the most vulnerable. Some among the wealthiest have begun to combat the problem. Leonardo DiCaprio and Laurene Powell Jobs organized a Gofundme campaign via America’s Food Fund. So far, it has raised more than US$26 million.
Several celebrities, including Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Oprah Winfrey, have donated to charities such as No Kid Hungry and Feeding America.
Business executives are contributing, too.
Apollo Global Management chief executive Leon Black has donated US$20 million to a program that provides supplies to healthcare workers. Hedge fund billionaire David Tepper has donated US$22 million to relief efforts. Celebrities in Africa are pitching in, too.
Despite its positive impact, charitable donations will never be enough. Stepping up efforts to ensure food security for all is essential to preventing the COVID-19 pandemic from becoming a humanitarian crisis, an objective which needs to be an imperative for policymakers.
Esther Ngumbi is an assistant professor of entomology and African American studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
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