Food Security and Covid-19

Covid-19 has greatly impacted food security, including livelihoods, access, availability, nutrition etc. The food and agriculture sector is critical to the economies of many countries. The panel discussion will explore the adverse impacted covid-19 has had and how different actors are working to mitigate the situation.

Panellists will include, Professor Tim Benton who leads the Energy, Environment and Resources programme at Chatham House, and2011-2016 he was the “champion” of the UK’s Global Food Security programme. He has also worked with UK Governments, the EU and G20, and is an author of theIPCCS' Special Report on Food, Land and Climate (2019)and UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment.

From the Asia Development Bank, we’ll be joined by Mr Qingfeng Zhang, Chief, Rural Development and Food Security Thematic Group. Mr Zhang leads and oversees ADB’s overall rural development, natural resources, food security, and agriculture operations by providing relevant and practical technical advice. In coming months the ADB will also be looking to publish a note/study about impact of COVID-19 on food security.

From the CDC Group, we will be joined by Sami Khan, Director Strategy Food and Agriculture. Sami has been in the food and agriculture industry sector across a number of emerging geographies for over 23 years in various capacities from supply chain management, private equity, consulting and business development.
Now Sami leads the food and agriculture strategy at CDC Group Plc. CDC is the UK Government’s DFI with a core geographical focus in Africa and the Indian sub-continent with assets under management of close to $ 7 billion.

The pandemic is estimated to have dramatically increased the number of people facing acute food insecurity, and as of April the World Food Programme estimated that 296 million people are without enough food. While hunger was already on the rise prior to Covid-19 due to extreme climate events and conflict, people estimated to be suffering from food insecurity has risen to 111 million since April 2020.

Further challenging the access to supplies are export restrictions due to Covid-19 which hurt the food security in importing countries, and inflated food prices due to the effects of social distancing measures on retail. As households are forced to reduce their food consumption they face malnutrition with harmful long-term effects on cognitive development in young children and threatens gains in poverty reduction.

Join us to hear from those working in this sector.

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