As we rounded up analysis and news on the economic impact of #COVID19 from the last week, a concerning, recurring theme that @AcostaAminaM and I observed is the impact on the food supply.
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[a thread of problems and solutions 1/14]
@WorldBankAfrica's publication #AfricaPulse finds prices of staple foods rising and agri-food supply chains rising. openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/3… 
Researchers at @IFPRI conducted phone interviews in #Ethiopia & find that the #COVID19 pandemic is "beginning to disrupt food value chains... impacting the livelihoods of farmers & the diets of rural and urban households." ifpri.org/blog/impacts-c…
Journalist @JamesSmat documents how food markets in #Nairobi are transforming in a twitter thread. "Vegetable & fruit traders are recording losses as transportation of the goods from markets & farms becomes difficult by the day."
Mutsaka reports on food access challenges in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Somalia, and elsewhere. fox42kptm.com/news/coronavir…
In Thailand, @Huileng_Tan reports that "rice prices surge to 7-year high as coronavirus sparks stockpiling." cnbc.com/2020/04/08/ric…
In India, farmers are having trouble getting their crops to market. voanews.com/science-health… "Hobbled by severe labor shortages, transport bottlenecks and plummeting demand due to a nationwide coronavirus lockdown, millions of farmers are staring at huge losses."
In the Philippines, two sugar mills that produce 16% of the country's total production have shut down, leading to fears of price rises. reuters.com/article/health…
@MeadOver and I have written about how "a global health crisis becomes a global economic crisis." cgdev.org/blog/economic-… But disruptions to the food supply can mean malnutrition and another round of health problems, not just from #COVID19.
Thus, Nobel prize winners Abhijit Banerjee and Amartya Sen, together with economist Raghuram Rajan, this week encouraged the Indian government to distribute food liberally. indianexpress.com/article/opinio…
Likewise, @AiyarYamini highlights food insecurity among Indians during the lockdown and encourages a "food-and-cash security system that allows migrant workers access to benefits from any part of the country." hindustantimes.com/columns/the-st…
@Ugentilini and others document that many countries are providing in-kind food transfers, vouchers, or school feeding programs. ugogentilini.net/wp-content/upl… Many other countries are providing cash.
There is much to do in the fight against #COVID19: It can be overwhelming. But food is a non-negotiable aspect of life. We need to keep a close eye on supply chains and make sure that households have access to food, whether directly or through cash, if markets are functioning.
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