COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO THE EMERGING ECONOMIC REALITIES AND CONFLICT AMIDST THE PANDEMIC

[Matthew Tegha]

COVID-19 is estimated to have dramatically increased the number of people facing acute food insecurity in 2020-2021.  As of April 2021, the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that 296 million people in the 35 countries where it works are without sufficient food—111 million more people than in April 2020.

The newly released State of Food Security and Nutrition in the world lays bare the impact of COVID-19 on food insecurity and malnutrition around the world, with a further 161 million people believed to have gone hungry in 2020. We should also take note that data-gathering efforts have been hampered by social distancing rules in the past year.

 

The SOFI report,  or “The State of Food and Nutrition in the World 2021”, estimates that up to 811 million people went hungry last year as climate extremes and economic slowdowns, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, continued to increase in frequency and intensity.

 

Recently released data on food security conditions from the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) provide insight into the unprecedented scale and level of current food security crisis conditions. Estimates for 18 countries indicate that food security crisis conditions are at their highest level since 2010, with extensive drought and famine conditions affecting African countries.

 

Nigeria like other economies around the world is fighting the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nigeria was already tackling its own fiscal challenges before the arrival of the dreaded pandemic which has further rained more difficulties on citizens of Nigeria and strained the challenges both economically and on the health sector.

Nigeria, after slipping into its first recession in 25 years in 2016, growth in Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) returned but remained below population expansion, meaning that Africa’s most populous nation became poorer per capita between 2017-2019. The economy had begun to show promising signs of recovery but the emergence of the pandemic completely slowed this progress.

“Nigeria is still dependent on oil, so the current crash in oil prices is adding to the COVID-19 lockdown effect where people stop spending – one person’s spending is another person’s income

“The Nigerian government also said revenue flow from oil declined from 5.5 trillion Naira in 2020 to 1.1 trillion Naira, so we have a sudden fiscal crisis in Nigeria presenting some pretty immense economic challenges.”

The impact of the pandemic has been felt across all sectors. Because of the country-wide lockdown, a huge blow was dealt on the economic activity in sectors like retail and real estate, and how most businesses were forced to adjust with some even laying off staff.

 

Even before COVID-19 reduced incomes and disrupted supply chains, chronic and acute hunger was on the rise due to various factors including conflict, socio-economic conditions, natural hazards, climate change, and pests.

One year after the emergence of the dreaded pandemic there is an increasing number of countries now facing growing levels of acute food insecurity, further reversing years of development gains.

 

COVID-19 impacts have led to severe and widespread increases in global food insecurity, affecting vulnerable households in almost every country, with impacts expected to continue through 2021 and into 2022.

Surging prices reflect strong demand, along with weather uncertainties, macroeconomic conditions, and COVID-19-related supply disruptions, even though the global production outlook for major grains remains good.

The primary risks to food security are at the country level: Higher retail prices, combined with reduced incomes, mean more and more households are having to cut down on the quantity and quality of their food consumption.

Nigeria like other countries is experiencing high food price inflation at the retail level, reflecting lingering supply disruptions due to COVID-19 social distancing measures, currency devaluations, and other factors. Rising food prices have a greater impact on people in low- and middle-income countries since they spend a larger share of their income on food than people in high-income countries.

Some food producers also face losses on perishable and nutritious food as consumption patterns shift towards cheaper staples. Though current food insecurity is by and large not driven by food shortages, supply disruptions and inflation affecting key agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and seeds, or prolonged labor shortages could diminish next season’s crop. If farmers are experiencing acute hunger, they may also prioritize consuming seeds as food today over planting seeds for tomorrow, raising the threat of food shortages later on.

Created 09/25/2021 at 9:29 am Tags: community responses, conflict, ConnexUs, matthewtegha, Multimedia, Peacebuilding

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