Background Information

Covid-19 has brought negative impact to the communities around the world, causing
illnesses, deaths and economic recession. The sudden shock in the economic growth leads to
long-lasting damage which requires years for recovery. (Mahler et al., 2020) The long-term
impacts are especially concentrated in poverty countries in social and economy aspects.
Forecasts based on the World Economic Outlook suggested that the covid-19 may possibly
push 49 million of people into extreme poverty in 2020. Figure 1 shows the estimation of
long-term effect of covid-19 on extreme poverty countries by year 2030. The African
countries such as Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo which reported the highest
negative impact of covid-19 are already facing high levels of poverty issues prior to the
outbreak. When the covid-19 pandemic strikes, they do not have sufficient resources to
overcome the crisis, this has significantly increased their level of poverty and led to social
and economy breakdown.

Figure 1: The long-term impact of covid-19 pandemic on extreme poverty countries by year
2030.
Situation

Many middle and low developed countries faced serious food security issues due to
disrupted food supply chain. The farmers are unable to produce agricultural crops such as
vegetables and fruits. The households that rely on agricultural economy as their primary
resources has face income lost or reduced makes them difficult to sustain their life. Moreover,
the decreased food supply could lead to shortage of food which could not fulfil the high
demand in the market. The prices of agricultural crops experience drastic inflation in urban
areas due to shortage of food and the increasing demand. Moreover, poor people living in
rural areas are lacking access to the urban areas to obtain food for basic survival needs. Most
families with low and unstable income are unable to purchase and consume more nutrient and
calorie-rich food such as meet, fruits, dairy products and vegetables which are more
expensive in the market The poor Covid-19 has increased the severity of global food
insecurity especially to the vulnerable poverty. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of
the United Nations estimates the rise of number of undernourished from 624 million people
in year 2014 to 688 million people in year 2019. Meanwhile the covid-19 outbreak is further
increasing the severity the hunger issues caused by poverty and shortage of food. As the
quality of food and water is affected, the mortality rates have increase and the young children
could not get sufficient nutrients for development.

Causes

The disruption in production of agricultural crops in farms are the main factors that
affect the food supply chain. The governments in most countries have implemented several
restrictions and prevention measures such cross-border restrictions. On the other hand, some
countries are forced to enforce lockdown measures and all economic activities including
agricultural sector are closed down which bring the agricultural production to a halt. In
Afghanistan, the farmers in rural areas are unable to plant and harvest the agricultural crops
on time due to the spread of coronavirus. Agricultural sector is very labour intensive and it
has less capability to respond to the shock of pandemic especially in poverty countries. Food
and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) reported a survey of farmers in India has proved that
the shortages of labours and unable to sell vegetables due to lockdown are major constraints
of the farmers. The production of agricultural crops is struggled to obtain adequate resources
such as labour for planting and harvesting due to the restrictions of migrant labours and
trades. They faced huge challenges in the disrupted supply chain as they are not able to
transport the food from the region of production to local market to sell the crops. This results
in inequal distribution of agricultural crops across different regions and some regions without
resources could not get sufficient vegetables and food to survive.

Solutions

International organizations such as the World Bank and United Nations should
continue working together with and to provide long term support and food resources to the
vulnerable countries which do not have sufficient food supply to solve the hunger crisis. They
established certain educational campaigns about the coronavirus and prevention measures to
educate them the importance of hygiene and basic sanitation to obtain clean food and water.
The farmers in rural areas provided with plants seeds and tools can continue to produce
agricultural crops to the communities and generate income to ensure the continuity of food
supply chain. With this, the poor families are able The World Bank Group also support those
countries which poverty is very concentrated by collecting food donation from the public to
save their lives. These programs are very effective in reducing the hunger issues by enhance
the ability of the poor to cope with economic and social risks such as illness, old age and
unemployment. The rescue strategies which focus on sustainability are able to protect the
poverty against future crisis and build resilience in long term. However, organisations in
developed countries should have well coordination and collaboration frequently to gather and
optimize their available resources to overcome the challenges in supporting the poverty. They
should always communicate to focus on the development of long-term strategies and plan to
strengthen and expand the capabilities of poor families in food safety and agricultural
production.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the covid-19 pandemic has caused major direct impacts on the hunger
crisis and food supply chain in the poverty countries. The global recession in economy and
the poverty rate are anticipated to decline and be steeper than previously due to the adverse
impact of the covid-19 crisis. Covid-19 has reminded everyone the importance of investing in
global food supply chain and prevention actions comprehensively (The World Bank, 2020).
None of the countries can act alone to overcome and control the hunger crisis experience by
the global. Therefore, different countries should work collaboratively to prepare for future
outbreaks and develop different strategies to overcome the challenges and increase their
resilience to withstand future pandemic, without any country left unturned. The high-income
and developing countries should lend a helping hand in helping the poverty to achieve zero
hunger in sustainable development goals.
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