By Eugene Ng’andu
The World Food Programme (WFP) warned that Covid-19 is unfolding from a global health crisis into an economic emergency and could even further develop into a food security emergency. Globally, world Hunger is on the rise and it is estimated that over 820 million people are hungry. With the surge in Covid-19 cases world over, these numbers are likely to be higher.
Whilst the Covid-19 pandemic has had low food supply impact so far, it is increasingly becoming a threat to food and nutritional security and affects all four dimensions of food security: food availability, food accessibility, food utilization and food systems stability. This is because the Covid-19 pandemic has caused supply chain disruptions which have affected market linkages from both the demand and supply sides.
Following the unfavourable weather conditions experienced in the 2018/2019 farming season in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region, about 41.2 million people in the 13 SADC countries were estimated to be food insecure. In Zambia, 2019 was one of the most difficult years in the countries’ history. It was estimated that there were roughly more than 2.3 million food insecure people, each having this status because food was unavailable to them or because it was unaffordable and for some, a combination of the two.
Furthermore, with a score of 38.1, according to the 2019 Global Hunger Index (GHI), Zambia ranks 113th out of 117 qualifying countries. These values are determined by four indicators namely; Undernourishment, Child Wasting, Child Stunting and Child Mortality. The GHI is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional and national level.
According to the committee on World Food Security, Food and nutrition security exists when all people at all times have physical, social and economic access to food, which is safe and consumed in sufficient quantity and quality to meet their dietary needs and food preferences, and is supported by an environment of adequate sanitation, health services and care, allowing for a healthy and active life.
The Covid-19 pandemic has come at a time when most people, most of whom, depend on agriculture as their livelihood and main source of income are recovering from the shocks of the climate induced food insecurity of the 2018/2019 farming season. More so, in the 2019/2020 farming season, more than 1.5 million people were affected by flash floods around the country. This leaves a lot of people between a hard place and a rock as their ability to cope has long been stretched even before the current Covid-19 crisis.
Though it is quite early to predict the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on food production, production of perishable and semi-perishable crops as well as livestock production will most likely be affected in different ways and magnitude. With a current estimation of one third of all food that is produced globally going to waste, the current crisis increases the possibilities of more produced food going to waste especially perishable crops such as tomatoes, vegetables and fruits due to measures put in place to contain the spread of the covid-19 virus. More so, measures such as travel restrictions as well as closing down of borders like the Kasumbalesa Border have negatively affected trade in food commodities including the trade in livestock.
Insofar as the country has sufficient stock of the staple commodity (maize) as well as other crops on the market currently, it is highly anticipated that as the Covid-19 pandemic unfolds, logistical challenges will be experienced in mainly moving these commodities from one area to another. There has been, on the other hand, a decrease in market price of farm produce which can mainly be attributed to the contracting consumer demand of these commodities.
One of the possible reasons is that most consumers are no longer buying as much as they were before, with most of them observing physical distancing and isolating themselves from markets by staying home. However, in a case where more restriction of movement of these commodities from one area to another is instituted by the government in the quest to curtail the spread of the Covid-19 virus, sharp price increment would be experienced as the curve would have tilted towards the supply side, increased demand but low supply of commodities. This has been observed especially on some food as well as non-food items on the market whose prices have sharply risen.
While the Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it many challenges, there are also several opportunities from which local producers can tap into. The Zambian market has for a long time been flooded with foreign agricultural products such as fruits and vegetables, this has always made it difficult for the local producers within the country to compete and thrive. However, with most borders closing down due to travel restrictions, there exists an opportunity for local producers to scale up their production in order to meet the needs of the consumers.
Additionally, some of the measures announced by the minister of finance to be implemented such as the introduction of import substitution are moves that are welcome as they promote buying of locally produced commodities as opposed to importing.
There is on the contrary, a debate that has ensued, with certain sectors of society calling for opening up of some businesses so that the country’s economy can continue running amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. This would be a tough call to make but there are certain wheels of the economy that must always keep grinding, such as the food supply chain. In order to keep this effectively running and uninterrupted, there is need to designate agricultural sector commodities as essential services just as those in other sectors such as the health sector. By invoking provisions of the law such as the Food Safety Act No. 7 of 2019 in the production and distribution of food to mitigate health risks faced by small scale farmers, Food and Nutrition security will be realised.