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Africa must act quickly to avoid an impending food crisis caused by disruption of the coronavirus for small-scale producers, says the head of a UN agency.
“People locked up no longer have access to public transport systems, seeds, informal markets, to sell their products or buy inputs such as seeds and fertilizers,” said Gilbert Houngbo, head of the International Fund for Agricultural Development ( IFAD).
“Closing major highways and export bans could also harm food systems,” he told AFP in an interview.
“The breakdown of logistics chains is one of the biggest problems to solve,” he said. “We have to act now to prevent a health crisis from turning into a food crisis.”
IFAD specializes in assisting poor rural populations and seeks to strengthen food security and employment through low-interest loans and grants.
The agency said Monday it had committed $ 40 million to a fund called the Covid-19 Stimulus Center for the Rural Poor, aimed at alleviating the pandemic’s impact on food production and market access.
It requested at least $ 200 million more from UN members, foundations and the private sector.
Houngbo, former Prime Minister of Togo, said it was little time to strengthen the safety net in rural Africa.
“In the coming weeks,” he said, there was the basic logistical problem of bringing fertilizer to farmers as they prepared for the planting season.
Another challenge was how to manage crop accumulation in rural areas, where 80 percent of the population is poor.
“We are helping to find local outlets for crops that would otherwise be lost due to lack of transportation, and we are helping governments buy stocks of agricultural products that they can then distribute to people in need.”
