Food warning must be heeded

With people around the world under stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, there are concerns about the effects on the international food supply chain. The all-out efforts to prevent and control the spread of virus should not overshadow the necessity of keeping the worldwide food supply chain running as normally as possible.

Care must be taken to ensure these measures do not disrupt the food supply chain, which would have pronounced consequences for the most vulnerable populations.

That explains why the heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization and World Trade Organization have issued a joint statement calling for countries to ensure that their efforts to control the virus do not unintentionally create unwarranted shortages of essential items and exacerbate hunger and malnutrition.

The threat is real. After the global financial crisis in 2008, countries such as India and Vietnam restricted exports of rice to ward off expected price increases, causing riots in some other developing countries as prices soared due to a supply shortage.

Even if the reserves of grain in many countries will be enough to see them through the pandemic, what is worrying is how much damage the current efforts many countries have made in preventing and controlling the spread of the virus will do to agricultural production this year.

Are there enough agricultural workers given the restrictions that many countries have placed on people’s movements and closure of their borders? Will farmers in grain producing countries be able to get enough of the farming materials they need for agricultural production?

Preparedness averts peril. It is undoubtedly important and urgent for the leaders of the world’s major countries to pay more attention to maintaining agricultural production and safeguarding the global food supply chain.

As far as food security in China is concerned, there is no need for Chinese people to worry about whether they will have enough food to eat in the months to come. China’s food grain output has been more than 600 million tons for five consecutive years since 2014 and a record agricultural harvest has been achieved for 15 consecutive years. There are enough grain reserves to support ample supply of food.

Since the novel coronavirus has been basically brought under control in China, there is no risk of agricultural production being disrupted because of the lack of agricultural workers and supply of farming materials. Even so, due importance must be attached to agricultural production to ward off the possible impacts of disruptions on the global food supply chain.