New Delhi (NVI): There is an impending global food emergency that could have long term impacts on hundreds of millions of children and adults if immediate action is not taken to address the pandemic situation arising out of Covid-19, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said today.
Launching his latest policy brief on the pandemic, Guterres focused on the need to safeguard everyone’s access to food and adequate nutrition for present, as well as for the future.
The UN Secretary General said that although COVID-19 could push nearly 50 million more people into extreme poverty, this and other dire impacts of the crisis can be avoided if countries act immediately to shore up global food security.
In a video message to accompany the launch, Guterres pointed out that millions were already grappling with hunger and malnutrition before the pandemic. “While there is more than enough food in the world to feed everyone, more than 820 million people still do not get enough to eat, and numbers no doubt will rise,” he said.
Meanwhile, some 144 million children worldwide under the age of five are stunted, meaning they are too small for their age, mainly due to malnutrition, the UN said in a release.
Guterres said that even in countries with abundant food, COVID-19 risks disrupting food supply chains. “Our food systems are failing, and the COVID-19 pandemic is making things worse,” he said.
“This year, some 49 million extra people may fall into extreme poverty due to the COVID-19 crisis. The number of people who are acutely food or nutrition insecure will rapidly expand,” he added.
Guterres further said that every percentage point drop in global Gross Domestic Product means an additional 0.7 million stunted children.
“Even in countries with abundant food, we see risks of disruptions in the food supply chain. We need to act now to avoid the worst impacts of our efforts to control the pandemic,” he said.
Launching the policy brief, the UN chief said that it has three clear findings.
“First, we must mobilize to save lives and livelihoods, focusing attention where the risk is most acute. That means designating food and nutrition services as essential, while implementing appropriate protections for food workers.”
He said there is a need to preserve critical humanitarian food, livelihood and nutrition assistance to vulnerable groups.
“And it means positioning food in food-crisis countries to reinforce and scale up social protection systems,” he added.
Guterres said that countries need to scale up support for food processing, transport and local food markets, and they must keep trade corridors open to ensure the continuous functioning of food systems.
“And they must ensure that relief and stimulus packages reach the most vulnerable, including meeting the liquidity needs of small-scale food producers and rural businesses,” he said.
In the second finding, he said that the countries must strengthen social protection systems for nutrition.
“Countries need to safeguard access to safe, nutritious foods, particularly for young children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, older people and other at-risk groups. And they need to adapt and expand social protection schemes to benefit nutritionally at-risk groups,” he said.
This includes supporting children who no longer have access to school meals, he added.
Third, we must invest in the future, Guterres said, adding, “We have an opportunity to build a more inclusive and sustainable world,”
“Let us build food systems that better address the needs of food producers and workers. Let us provide more inclusive access to healthy and nutritious food so we can eradicate hunger,” he said.
Besides, the UN Secretary General said there is a need to rebalance the relationship between food systems and the natural environment by transforming them to work better with nature and for the climate.
“We cannot forget that food systems contribute up to 29 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, including 44 per cent of methane, and are having a negative impact on biodiversity,” he said in his speech.
“If we do these things and more, as indicated by the brief we are launching today, we can avoid some of the worst impacts of the COVID19 pandemic on food security and nutrition – and we can do so in a way that supports the green transition that we need to make,” he added.
