HELP FOR THE WORLD’S POOR

With lockdowns due to COVID-19 uprooting the lives of billions of people, experts are predicting an alarming increase in poverty.

Unilever, Nestlé and PepsiCo, farming organisations, academics, civil society groups and the UN Foundation have all written to world leaders, warning that the pandemic could double the number of people going hungry.

The Alliance of Biodiversity and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) have responded to this crisis with an action plan. “Rigorous research on COVID-19’s impact on food systems will be essential to helping us withstand this global crisis, accelerating recovery once the crisis ends, and building food systems of the future that perform better in addressing the nexus of agriculture, nutrition and the environment,” said Juan Lucas Restrepo, Director General of the Alliance. Holding the world’s largest gene banks of beans, cassava, tropical forages and bananas, the Alliance has guaranteed access to its seeds and germ plasm for farmers across the globe. Already they have donated 4.5 tons of improved seed in Colombia, including biofortified beans, rice and maize. This is enough to ensure 4,500 low-income farming families can access nutritious food while generating revenue.