How southern Africa can respond to food-security risk posed by Covid-19

CONCERNS over food and nutrition insecurity in Africa are receiving increasing attention as the Covid-19 pandemic adds additional pressure to the region’s already persistent inequality, poverty and unemployment.

The UN World Food Programme estimates that the lives and livelihoods of 265 million people in low- and middle-income countries will be under severe threat unless swift action is taken to address the effects of the pandemic.

With the current impact trajectory, it is expected that the poverty line will be negatively influenced, and that the already minimal income base for an already vulnerable region will be severely affected.

AU chairperson and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa highlights this burden, noting that “this pandemic is a setback for the progress the region has made to eradicate poverty, inequality and underdevelopment”.

According to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the African continent has the highest prevalence of undernourishment, affecting onefifth of its population (more than 256million people).

The Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent country lockdown restrictions will result in additional unprecedented impacts.

First, considering the labourintensive nature of agriculture in Africa, the restrictions in movement and social distancing rules have had an impact on the production, processing and logistics sectors across the region’s agriculture value chain.

The loss of income is further translating into reduced buying power to support smallholder farmers and agripreneurs, and further reducing the government tax base to support social food security interventions.

Second, the pandemic is resulting in job and salary cuts which are mostly affecting the vulnerable populations who have no safety nets during this unprecedented economic time.

Increased job losses will further affect household food security.

Indirectly, job losses will escalate other social challenges such as crime and gender-based violence, among others.

Addressing the region’s food insecurity challenge requires long-term policies, strategies and interventions that are transformative and bring on board key communities, national, regional and global stakeholders from public, private and developmental partners.

At a continental level, the AU has led discussions on how best to respond and mitigate the impacts caused by Covid-19, including its influence on food security.

Through the AU, African countries, bilateral partners and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank Group, the Africa Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund have had a number of engagements on how best to support the regional responses.

For instance, the regional economic communities are working with international development partners to put together a systematic and coordinated response to the pandemic which includes responses to short-term needs as well as longer-term strategies aimed at building resilient food systems in Africa.

At a sub-regional level, Southern Africa – a highly interconnected region in terms of trade, agriculture and inter-country remittance – has had diverse responses to the pandemic, reflective of a wide-ranging regional economic and political diversity.

South Africa, the region’s largest economy, has implemented one of the strictest lockdown measures in the world, compared to other countries in the region that took a less pragmatic approach due, for instance, to lack of a strong fiscal structure to mitigate potential impacts of a strict economic lockdown.

Some of the wide-ranging country responses to mitigate food insecurity include the restructuring of personal loans and those of small and medium enterprises.

In Namibia, for instance, fees on mobile money transactions have been temporarily waived to encourage cashless transactions in order to stimulate cash transfer across communities.

In Botswana, a Covid-19 wage support scheme has been implemented to provide financial support to unemployment challenges resulting from the pandemic.

South Africa has instituted a number of programmes to stabilise debt and minimise the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable households, while at the same time attempting to stimulate economic growth.

Food insecurity challenges in sub-Saharan Africa are multidimensional and linked to a suite of issues.

These include aspects of leadership, health care, conflicts, the environment, trade and economic interests, agricultural production and the massive challenges of food security and the regional food system.

As such, it is worth noting that there is no ready solution to address food insecurity challenges which the region has failed to address over the past decades.

At present, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) highlights that prompt measures need to be put in place to ensure that food supply chains are kept active to mitigate the risk of large shocks that would have a considerable impact, especially on the poor and the most vulnerable.

In order to mitigate the immediate and short-term challenges posed by the pandemic on food security, the FAO notes that countries must meet immediate food needs of their vulnerable populations, boost social protection programmes, keep global food trade going, keep the domestic supply chain gears moving and support smallholder farmers’ ability to increase food production.

With the imminent contraction on southern Africa’s economic growth, vulnerable households will require urgent and much greater support in response to the pandemic.

“The Covid-19 pandemic could be used as a springboard to accelerate opportunities for the digital revolution

However, the pandemic could also provide opportunities for farmers and young entrepreneurs across the agriculture value chain to boost community-based opportunities, considering the lockdown restrictions currently in place.

Holistic yet comprehensive approaches should be targeted and aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 2, aimed at ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition.

As the continent with the largest youth population, Africa can use this comparative advantage to unlock its full economic potential by investing in programmes that equip and provide platforms for the youth to be active players in the region’s economic and political landscape.

For instance, the Covid-19 pandemic could be used as a springboard to accelerate opportunities for the digital revolution, specifically targeted at the youth.

This could include developing inclusive opportunities that link youth entrepreneurship programmes with established corporates to promote localised food production that links established supermarkets and local community shops.

Despite being relatively stable, southern Africa has deep-rooted challenges within its economic, political and public governance structures.

Effective leadership has been shown to be one of the key drivers for eliminating food insecurity advancement as per examples in some Asian countries.

Putting in place effective strategies, the challenge of the pandemic could stimulate the development and implementation of effective policies, programmes and other interventions aimed at permanently eliminating food insecurity.

This drive should be locally driven and mission oriented, with clear pathways driven by leaders who demonstrate accountability, trust and commitment.