Undoubtedly, the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to prompt fears of insecurity within and across countries. Though the virus has left no part of the world untouched, its impact will greatly be felt particularly in developing countries and in economies whose food needs are largely dependent on supplies from other countries amidst closure of borders and travel restrictions. In addressing the issue on global food security in the wake of this pandemic, the UNFAO noted in a report that border closures, quarantines, and market supply chain and trade disruptions could restrict peoples’ access to sufficient/diverse and nutritious sources of food especially in countries hit hard by the virus or already affected by high levels of food insecurity. Owing to this, it further advised that though there is enough food globally now, policymakers around the world need to be careful not to turn this health crisis into an avoidable food crisis as was the mistakes made during the 2007-08 food crisis.
Food security is a complex interplay of food availability, food accessibility, food stability and food utilization. In Ghana, an estimated 5% of the population are food insecure. Though Ghana has made impressive progress towards the international hunger targets as the agriculture sector growth increased from 2.9% in 2016 to 6.1% in 2017, the major identified cause of food insecurity – post-harvest losses- remains a challenge. The agricultural sector dominates Ghana’s economy, engaging approximately 52% of Ghanaians both directly and indirectly. An agrarian economy like Ghana’s whose agriculture sector provides about 90% of the food needs of the country can still produce food albeit disruptions in the global supply of goods and services. What cannot be said is whether this domestic supply can be sustained should the pandemic last longer than expected. Though food supply has not yet been affected (at least from the buyer’s lens), the impact on the food security systems – panic buying, food price hikes- is glaring. Days before the partial lockdown and even after, in a bid to see out the future, consumers rushed for more food items than they would normally have. The interaction of demand and supply coupled with an alleged increase in prices at the production side, also saw market folks charging higher than usual for their locally produced wares.
By: Lucy Ofori-Davis
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