‘Incomes Virtually Stopped Overnight’, Threaten Global Food Insecurity

An alarming new report by the ILO estimates that nearly half of the global workforce, more than 1.6 billion people, could lose their livelihoods due to COVID-19 related reductions in global trade and increased lockdown control measures. The report projects that lost income could total US$3.4 trillion this year, as the equivalent of 200 million full-time jobs have or will disappear since the start of the pandemic. The staggering figures include many informal workers that may lack worker benefits or social protection, and push upwards of 500 million people into poverty. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a Guidance for countries to adopt strategies that protection homeless people, as the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights raised the likelihood that extreme poverty will increase for the first time in 20 years that is threatening 40 to 60 million people globally.

With incomes virtually stopping overnight in some countries, the UN Global Network Against Food Crisis warns that as many as 265 million people around the world may suffer from food insecurity and possible starvation. This includes the half a billion smallholder farmers that produce almost 80% of food consumed in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Some countries have turned to cash payments to support the poor, including Pakistan where the government announced US$900 million in emergency funds for over 80 million people. Many countries such as Bangladesh are confronted by increasing public protests due to lockdowns. In Malawi, the High Court set aside plans for a COVID-19 lockdown pending a review within seven days, as protestors against the lockdown carried placards declaring that it would be better to contract the virus than die of hunger because they are unable to work. The WHO has also expressed concern of community spread in West Africa, as multiple countries have issued targeted lockdowns and curfews in major cities in addition to restrictions on inter-urban travel, stopping short of nationwide lockdowns.

With a looming recession and ballooning debt obligations in many developing countries, the IMF urged donor countries to support economic stimulus packages to address the immediate and long-term hunger impact. UN OCHA also states that about 700 million people (10% of the world’s population) are most vulnerable and concentrated in about 30 to 40 countries which already receive humanitarian assistance and will see a big drop in incomes as the virus spreads and governments impose restrictive measures and lock downs. They estimate that US$90 billion would be needed to provide income support, protect against starvation, and support a systematic health response for the world’s most vulnerable people. This represents 1% of the approximately US$8 trillion stimulus packages that the IMF states G20 countries have put in place to safeguard their own economies. The World Bank’s Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility will meanwhile provide a modest  $200 million in pandemic bonds to 64 low- and middle-income countries to finance COVID-19 related medical and personal protective equipment, medicines and support for frontline health workers.