IFPRI Insights: COVID-19 Special Issue (June 4)

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June 4, 2020

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IFPRI’s analysis of the global pandemic continues with discussion of the role of water in exacerbating the negative impacts of COVID-19 on health, findings on disruptions to dairy value chains and the incomes of poor households from Ethiopia, and events focusing on the effects of the pandemic on diets, both short- and long-term.

Water Security Key to COVID Resilience: Claudia Sadoff and Mark Smith of IWMI discuss how COVID-19 is shining a harsh spotlight on the inequalities and global health risks that result from the collective failure to uphold the human right to water and sanitation. (Read Blog)

Disruption of Dairy Value Chains: Ethiopia’s dairy chains suffer from a number of critical issues, including consumer perception of health risks from different types of milk products and the effects of reduced consumer demand on distributors, collectors, and rural farmers involved in the raw milk value chain, as research by Agajie Tesfaye, Yetimwork Habte, and Bart Minten finds. (Read Blog)

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Ethiopia’s Poorest Households Hardest Hit
Kalle Hirvonen, Gashaw Taddesse Abate, and Alan de Brauw conducted a phone survey of households in Addis Ababa on changes to their income, food expenditures, and consumption under COVID-19 control measures. About 37% of respondents stated their households had “much less income”, and another 21% stated their households had “somewhat less income.” Analysis of these reported losses by wealth quintile shows that poorer households are much more likely to report less income during April than richer households. (Read Blog)

The recovery [from COVID] may be complicated by climatic changes. The mass locust invasion is a huge threat to many countries in Africa and Asia. All of these factors can lead to possible development of the pandemic into a global human catastrophe and large-scale food crisis.” – Sergey Shoba, Director, Eurasian Center for Food Security at Lomonosov Moscow State University (Discussion on the Implications of the 2020 Global Food Policy Report for Eurasia, May 27)

When we look at food systems impacts [of COVID]… the effects have mainly been on nutritious foods…fruits, vegetables, fish, eggs, milk, and legumes. This is obviously of grave concern.” – Corinna Hawkes, Director, Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London (No backsliding: How can we re-orient food systems and health systems to protect nutrition and healthy diets in the context of COVID-19?, May 28)

Micronutrients in emergencies: How can we prevent an increase in hidden hunger?

June 9, 2020
9:30-10:45 AM EDT

The COVID-19 pandemic may result in significant short- and long-term disruptions to food systems, resulting in decreased availability of nutritious foods, and a rise in the global prevalence of all forms of malnutrition, including micronutrient malnutrition. This event will focus on how to prevent a surge of micronutrient deficiencies during such an emergency.

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For further analyses on the impact of COVID-19 on food and nutrition security in South Asia please see the IFPRI South Asia Newsletter : COVID-19 Special Edition)