From 2020 on wards the people of the world have been facing a unique challenge because of COVID-19 which first time people of the world have experienced. This is known to all that COVID-19 is the name given by the World Health Organization (WHO) on February 11, 2020 for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. It started in Wuhan, China in late 2019 and has since spread worldwide. COVID-19 is an acronym that stands for coronavirus disease of 2019 (co, vi, d = COVID).
According to a publication of IFPRI, 2020, COVID-19 is disrupting economies and food systems everywhere, ‘but the poor will suffer the greatest risk of food crisis’. The general economic theory states that the risk of increased food insecurity depends on the level of economic development. As employment and income opportunities fall for the poor, the gap between rich and poor grows. Again as per the publication, among the poor, urban poor and women are especially vulnerable.
The poor’s food and nutrition security will be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 because:
1. The global economic recession will have larger effects on poor people’s incomes.
2. The poor spend a larger share of their income on food.
3. Among productive assets, physical labor — poor people’s principal asset — will be most
affected by COVID-19.
4. COVID-19 will cause more disruptions in private sector value chains in poor countries.
5. COVID-19 will cause disruptions in public sector programs for food, nutrition, health, and poverty, which are more important for poor people.
6. The poor have less access to sanitation facilities and healthcare.
7. Poor countries have lower economic capacities to compensate for declining incomes
The global recession, caused by lockdowns and other restrictions on business activity to control COVID-19, ultimately leads to reductions in food consumption as well as in nutrition status — mainly among the poor. Further, as the publication, the number of people living in poverty would increase by 2 percent to 3 percent, or about 14 to 23 million worldwide.
Anyway, health and economic impacts may be much more noticeable in developing, rather than developed, countries with associated greater implications for poverty and hunger.
Lastly, as per the publication, impact of COVID-19 is worst among the poorest echelons of the society as their only asset is labor, especially physical labor which is now scaling down means no demand or less demand for manual workers. On the other hand, rich people have a portfolio of productive assets, such as capital and land, and their labor is typically of a different quality. Even in locked down, they can work via computer spending their productive hours on email and Zoom. This is not the case for poor people with low skills.
The points have been collected from the book “COVID-19 & GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY Edited by Johan Swinnen & John McDermott, published by The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington D.C. , 2020
Comentarios