COVID-19 and food (in)security in Africa: Review of the emerging empirical evidence

The COVID-19 pandemic and food security in low- and middle-income countries: a review

“…Our review leads to ten key takeaways, which include six lessons and four points of caution, and complements existing reviews by Santeramo and Dominguez [49] and Tabe-Ojong et al [51]. We want to emphasize that our review here is complementary to these other existing reviews, and each of these reviews should be read and considered together.…”

“More than Disease”: Uncovering the Economic, Social, and Political Consequences of Sierra Leone’s COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Whereas the portrayal of Africans as helpless bearers of disease was well established during the 2014-15 Ebola epidemic, COVID-19 has challenged this narrative, leaving West Africa with fewer cases and deaths than many other regions of the world (Bamgboye et al 2021). However, the indirect consequences of the pandemic have been devastating for many African countries, as evidenced by economic crises, widespread food insecurity, and heightened political tensions (Chetty 2021;Kassa & Grace 2020;Moseley & Battersby 2020;Tabe-Ojong et al 2022). As the authors of a United Nations Development Programme assessment argue, while no country has been spared the indirect effects of COVID-19, "'fragile states' face a particularly difficult set of challenges" (Johnson-Sirleaf et al 2020:2).…”

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“…Without strong adaptation measures, climate change will reduce maize yields by over 15% in the region (Tesfaye et al, 2016;Zhai et al, 2021). Crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have further exacerbated the vulnerability of food systems to external factors, and the need to build selfsufficiency (Tabe-Ojong et al, 2023). The majority of countries in Southern Africa do not produce enough maize to meet their demands annually and rely on imports.…”