High-frequency monitoring of access to food has become especially important during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Food access in Nigeria, and across the globe, has significantly worsened since the start of the pandemic due to significant disruptions to food supply chains and widespread loss of income.  Poor access to food can have both short- and long-term impacts on health and wellbeing and is thus an important targeting criteria.

The COVID-19 pandemic is undermining food and nutrition security on a global scale. IFPRI estimates show that globally, 80-140 million people were at risk of falling into extreme poverty in 2020, more than half in Africa south of the Sahara. The World Food Programme estimated that globally, the number of people facing acute food insecurity could double in the same period. These impacts—stemming from lost incomes due to lockdowns, fear of exposure, and medical expenses, as well as disruptions in food markets and value chains—are severely testing social protection systems in many countries.

The long-awaited implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), slated for January 2021, could transform agricultural value chains, agri-business, employment, and food security in the region, according to a new report from the Malabo Montpelier Panel. The free trade area could add as much as USD 76 billion to global income and increase intra-African trade by more than 50 percent.

Fourth in a series of posts on a research project in Guatemala and Burundi that evaluated how to optimize food assistance programs for the maximum impact. Read the first piece here, the second here , and the third here.

Recent occurrences in the global arena, such as volatile commodity and resource markets, suggest the urgent need for African countries to develop policy options that can mitigate resource constraints and their attendant consequences. The transformation and development of Africa’s agricultural sector, especially the development of functional value chains, hold huge potentials for African economies through employment creation, income generation, and improvement of household livelihoods.

By Obayelu Abiodun Elijah and Obayelu Oluwakemi Adeola

By: Sara Gustafson

Africa’s food system has experienced rapid transformation in recent years, driven by widespread urbanization and increasing incomes. In addition, initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area have resulted in changes to market structure and functioning in an effort to spur regional trade and economic growth. These changes present new income-generating opportunities all along the agrifood value chain, from farmers to processors, traders, distributors, and the food service industry.

This post first appeared on the D+C Development and Cooperation site and IFPRI.org.

The deadlines to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate goals draw ever closer. The ambitious imperative of the SDGs is to “leave no one behind.” The implication is that we must urgently revitalize rural areas, especially in Africa south of the Sahara. Now is the time for a dramatic, system-wide transformation to make rural areas more productive, more sustainable, more climate-resilient, healthier and more attractive places to live.

Many areas of East Africa will continue to face high levels of food insecurity through late 2019, according to a new report from FEWS Net . The situation will hit its worst levels at the peak of the pastoral lean season in September and October.