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Improving the resilience of the agricultural food system to respond to shocks and pressures: lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic

 Last Update: 2021-12-01
 Source: Internet
 Author: User

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Rome-Due to the severe impact of the new crown epidemic , the estimated number of hungry people in the world has increased again
.
To this end, countries need to improve the resilience of agricultural food systems to deal with sudden shocks during the epidemic
.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released its latest report today, stating that if not prepared for, sudden shocks will continue to damage the agricultural food system
.

This year, FAO's "State of Food and Agriculture" report, with the theme of "Improving the Resilience of Agricultural Food Systems to Cope with Shocks and Pressures", assessed the ability of countries' agricultural food systems to respond to shocks and pressures and quickly recover from them
.
The report also provides guidance to governments on how to improve resilience
.

Currently, about 3 billion people in the world cannot afford a healthy diet
.
The State of Food and Agriculture report estimates that if the shock reduces income by a third, another 1 billion people will be hungry
.
In addition, if key transportation links are destroyed, as many as 845 million people will face the dilemma of rising food costs
.
The report defines shocks as "short-term deviations from long-term trends that have a significant adverse impact on the system, human well-being, assets, livelihoods, security, and the ability to withstand future shocks," such as extreme weather events and outbreaks of plant and animal diseases
.

Before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, countries around the world were already facing insufficient progress, making it difficult to achieve their pledge to eradicate hunger and malnutrition by 2030
.
In the face of extreme weather, armed conflict or rising global food prices, food production and supply chains are vulnerable
.
At the same time, the shocks continue to intensify and become more frequent
.

　　The report was released at the right time
.
When attending the online press conference, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu pointed out that “the new crown epidemic has made us aware of the fragility and shortcomings of the agricultural food system
.
” FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torrero Cullen introduced at the press conference Report and hold panel discussions with policy makers and academia
.

　　Take action

　　The world's agricultural food system is intricate, consisting of a series of food and non-food agricultural production and its storage, processing, transportation, circulation and consumption activities.
The annual output reaches 11 billion tons of grain, and the directly or indirectly employed population reaches dozens of people.
Billion
.
Strengthening the ability of the agricultural food system to withstand shocks is urgent and must be given high priority
.

　　The report also established national-level agricultural food system resilience indicators for more than 100 countries by analyzing related factors, such as transportation networks, trade exchanges, and the popularity of healthy and diverse diets
.
Although low-income countries generally face more severe challenges, the report found that middle-income countries are also at risk
.
For example, 60% of Brazil's exports come from only one trading partner.
Once it is hit, Brazil will be helpless
.
Even high-income countries such as Australia and Canada may be impacted due to long logistics distances
.
For nearly half of the countries analyzed by FAO experts, after the breakdown of key network links, local transportation time will increase by at least 20%, and the transportation costs and food prices borne by consumers will increase accordingly
.

　　Based on the evidence in this report, FAO recommends that governments use the resilience of the agricultural food system as a strategic element for their country to respond to current and future challenges
.

　　Among them, the key is to realize the diversification of input resources, production, markets and supply chains, as well as participants, because diversification can resolve shocks and open up multiple ways
.
Supporting the development of small and medium agricultural and food enterprises, cooperatives, federations and industrial clusters will help maintain the diversification of the domestic agricultural and food value chain
.

　　Another key factor is connectivity
.
The interconnected agricultural food network can change the sources of supply, as well as the channels of transportation, sales, inputs and labor, so as to overcome difficulties more quickly
.

　　Finally, strengthening the resilience of disadvantaged families is also the key to eliminating global hunger
.
To this end, we can expand asset acquisition channels, broaden income sources, and popularize social protection programs to help cope with various shocks
.

　　Director-General Qu pointed out: "The State of Food and Agriculture reflects FAO's work in strengthening resilience.
We will also set up new indicators to help member countries measure the resilience of their agricultural food systems and identify areas that need improvement
.
"