Miller Magazine Issue: 124 April 2020

14 NEWS MILLER / APRIL 2020 Qu Dongyu Director-General The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Keeping global food chains alive is crucial amid COVID-19 crisis* Guest Author “For now, COVID-19 has not entailed any strain on food security, despite reports of crowded supermarket sieges. While there's no need for panic - there is enough supply of food in the world to feed everyone – we must face the challenge: an enormous risk that food may not be made available where it is needed. We must ensure that food markets are functioning properly and that information on prices, production, consumption and stocks of food is available to all in real time. This approach will reduce uncertainty and allow producers, consumers, traders and processors to make informed decisions and to contain unwarranted panic behavior in global food markets.” The COVID-19 pandemic is putting enormous strains on the public health systems around the world, and millions of people in the world's most advanced economies are in some form of quarantine. We know the human toll will be high, and that massive efforts to turn the tide carry a heavy economic cost. To reduce the risk of an even greater toll - shortage of food for millions, even in affluent countries - the world must take immediate actions to minimize disruptions to food supply chains. A globally coordinated and coherent response is needed to prevent this public health crisis from triggering a food crisis in which people cannot find or af- ford food. For now, COVID-19 has not entailed any strain on food security, despite reports of crowded supermarket sieges.