United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic could send nearly 50 million people into “extreme poverty” partly due to the largely impacted global food distribution.
More than 20 million people across the Horn of Africa struggle with food insecurity, but the pandemic has sent even countries with abundant food supplies, such as the United States, into disruption.
“Our food systems are failing, and the COVID-19 pandemic is making things worse,” Guterres said in a policy brief on food security.
The brief notes there is “more than enough food” in the world to feed the global population of 7.8 billion people, but over 820 million people today go hungry. Some 144 million children under the age of 5 are also stunted, which is 1 in 5 children worldwide.
The brief also predicts food and nutrition insecurity will rapidly expand due to the impact of the pandemic, and every percentage point drop in global domestic product equates to an additional 0.7 million stunted children.
In the U.S., over a dozen beef, pork, and chicken processing plants closed or are running at greatly reduced speeds because of the safety cautions presented by COVID-19.
The U.N. report recommends designating food and nutrition services as essential, strengthening social protection systems for nutrition, expanding access to nutritional food for those most at-risk for the coronavirus, and addressing the needs of food producers and workers.
