The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and measures put in place to stop its spread is having, and will continue to have, impacts on all intermediate results of the U.S. Government Global Food Security Strategy, including agricultural productivity, livelihoods, markets, trade and policy actions, food consumption and nutrition, hygiene and resilience. The Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD), an advisory committee to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), convened a virtual public meeting to share the thinking of leading experts in food security and nutrition that relates to COVID-19 impacts. The meeting included consideration of the most promising short-, medium-, and long-term responses across several key areas: farm-level productivity, markets and trade, access to finance, nutrition, safe and hygienic food systems, gender, and national and local policy. The meeting included presentations of credible modeling data about the scale and breadth of anticipated food security impacts in the developing world and a summary spanning near to longer-term interventions and guidance that may help to mitigate COVID-19 impacts. The meeting will also provide leading sources of curated information (e.g., landing pages for information related to the crisis and response). The meeting was intended to help to support decision making by USAID and its partners and stakeholders working to advance food security, nutrition, and resilience at global, regional and national levels.
To hear a recording of the public meeting, click here.