Miller Magazine Issue: 130 October 2020

16 NEWS MILLER / OCtOber 2020 UN says Covid-19 and other pressures on food supply chains are threat to food security and nutrition. Official stressed the importance of “building back better” through trans- formed food systems that focus on better production and better nutrition. Prevent Covid-19 from becoming food crisis in Africa, says FAO There is urgent need for collaboration to provide people with nutritious food and to prevent the Co- vid-19 crisis from becoming a food crisis in Africa, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu has said. Qu spoke in Kigali, Rwanda, before a forum of lea- ders and international institutions at the African Gre- en Revolution Forum that was held from September 8-11. He alluded to the enormous challenges for en- suring food security in the region and called for urgent co-operation to transform agri-food systems so peop- le can access safe and nutritious food. In his address, Qu noted that Africa had the hig- hest prevalence of undernourishment which is more than twice the global average, and the fastest growth in the number of hungry people compared to other regions. “Covid-19 and other pressures on food supply cha- ins, such as fall armyworm and desert locust are thre- atening food security, nutrition, and economic pros- pects in Africa in unprecedented ways,” Qu said. The director-general emphasised the need to create jobs, improve income opportunities and social protection while calling for greater innovation and use of tech- nologies and digitisation of agriculture. He stressed the importance of “building back bet- ter” through transformed food systems that focus on better production and better nutrition, while driving more research and development into fruits and vege- tables, highlighting the potential of traditional African leafy green vegetables and indigenous foods. The Food and Agriculture Organization has estab- lished a Covid-19 response and recovery programme to support countries and help to prevent a food emer- gency arising from the pandemic. “To overcome these enormous challenges, we must work together in new ways,” Qu said. FAO is a partner in AGRF 2020, along with 22 ot- her organisations including the African Development Bank, the African Union, Bayer, the Bill & Melinda Ga- tes Foundation, CGIAR, the Ikea Foundation, the Tony Blair Institute, UK Aid and US Aid. Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Re- sources Gerardine Mukeshimana told the symposium that Africa was “lagging behind” as other continents had managed to use science and technology to produ- ce enough food and to produce it cheaply. World Bank's Regional Director for Sustainable De- velopment Simeon Ehui said there were economic be- nefits in investing in nutrition but for many Africans nutritious food is currently unaffordable. “The cost of food needed to come down and there was a need for greater efficiency in moving food from producers to consumers. I call on governments to be front and centre,” Martin Fregene, the Director for Agriculture and Agro-Industry at the African Develop- ment Bank, said.