Blog

What's New

Prepare food systems for a long-haul fight against COVID-19

Jul 6th, 2020 • by Maximo Torero

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the global economy hard, and in many places other factors—such as the locust invasion in East Africa and falling export commodity prices—are compounding its effects. FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero observes that no modern economy has experienced anything like the combination of the Great Lockdown and the worst recession since the Great Depression, and that these could trigger a global food crisis—with Africa south of the Sahara especially vulnerable. He lays out a series of policy prescriptions that can help keep millions from starvation and fortify food systems for a post-pandemic world.—Johan Swinnen, series co-editor and IFPRI Director General.

Impact of COVID-19 Border Policies

May 18th, 2020 • by Sara Gustafson

This piece originally appeared on IFPRI.org

Across Africa, countries have imposed emergency border restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19. These have delayed a continental free trade agreement, are contributing to fears of a new food crisis, and disrupted cross-border trade. In this post, Antoine Bouët and David Laborde review the border measures and their impacts and provide recommendations on how to make health and trade policies more coherent in a complex environment.— Johan Swinnen , series co-editor and IFPRI Director General.

The Quest for Safer Foods: COVID-19 and Dairy Value Chains in Ethiopia

May 15th, 2020 • by Agajie Tesfaye (EIAR), Yetimwork Habte (ESSP-PSI), and Bart Minten (ESSP-IFPRI)

This post originally appeared on IFPRI's Ethiopia Strategy Support Program (ESSP) blog.

The share of households consuming dairy products in Addis Ababa has dropped by 11 percentage points since the COVID-19 crisis, seemingly linked to perceived risks of consuming dairy products. All income groups declined their consumption, except for the richest quintile where the share of consuming households changed little.

COVID-19 and Dairy Value Chains in Ethiopia

May 15th, 2020 • by Sara Gustafson

This post originally appeared on IFPRI's Ethiopia Support Strategy Program (ESSP) blog.

 

The share of households consuming dairy products in Addis Ababa has dropped by 11 percentage points since the COVID-19 crisis, seemingly linked to perceived risks of consuming dairy products. All income groups declined their consumption, except for the richest quintile where the share of consuming households changed little.