COVID-19 Reveals Vulnerabilities of the Food–Energy–Water Nexus to Viral Pandemics

Abstract

Food, energy, and water (FEW) sectors are inextricably linked, making one sector vulnerable to disruptions in another. Interactions between FEW systems, viral pandemics, and human health have not been widely studied. We mined scientific and news/media articles for causal relations among FEW and COVID-19 variables and qualitatively characterized system dynamics. Food systems promoted the emergence and spread of COVID-19, leading to illness and death. Major supply-side breakdowns were avoided (likely due to low morbidity/mortality among working-age people). However, COVID-19 and physical distancing disrupted labor and capital inputs and stressed supply chains, while creating economic insecurity among the already vulnerable poor. This led to demand-side FEW insecurities, in turn increasing susceptibility to COVID-19 among people with many comorbidities. COVID-19 revealed trade-offs such as allocation of water to hygiene versus to food production and disease burden avoided by physical distancing versus disease burden from increased FEW insecurities. News/media articles suggest great public interest in FEW insecurities triggered by COVID-19 interventions among individuals with low COVID-19 case-fatality rates. There is virtually no quantitative analysis of any of these trade-offs or feedbacks. Enhanced quantitative FEW and health models are urgently needed as future pandemics are likely and may have greater morbidity and mortality than COVID-19.

Using simulation modelling and systems science to help contain COVID‐19: A systematic review

“…Ten papers investigated the disruptions and uncertainties to the supply chain caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic (Achmad et al, 2021 ; Burgos & Ivanov, 2021 ; Choudhary et al, 2021 ; Duan et al, 2021 ; Ghadge et al, 2021 ; Moosavi & Hosseini, 2021 ; Nguyen, 2021 ; Sinha et al, 2020 ) and the post‐pandemic recovery strategies (Ivanov, 2021 ; Rahman et al, 2021 ). Twenty papers explored the other sectors at the national and regional levels, including industrial network (Song et al, 2020 ), tourism (Gu et al, 2021 ; Luo et al, 2021 ), national security (Prikazchikov et al, 2021 ), food–energy–water (Calder et al, 2021 ), economy (Chen et al, 2021 ; Fosco & Zurita, 2021 ; Inoue et al, 2021 ; Inoue & Todo, 2020 ; Sharma et al, 2021 ), financial (Spelta et al, 2021 ), social activity (de Brito Jr et al, 2021 ; Schmidt & Albert, 2021 ; Weibrecht et al, 2021 ), healthcare (Schlüter et al, 2021 ), employment (Marreros et al, 2021 ) and transport and land‐use (Habib & Anik, 2021 ). As the pandemic led to great collateral damage or process disruption to a variety of organizations, including banks (Shahabi et al, 2021 ), airlines (Delcea et al, 2020 ; Milne et al, 2020 , 2021 ), ambulatory endoscopy centres (Das, 2020 ), heart clinics (Zeinalnezhad et al, 2020 ), laboratories (Lim et al, 2020 ) and outpatient dialysis services (Allen, Bhanji, et al, 2020 ), necessary countermeasures were adopted to lower the risk of transmission and to improve effectiveness of these measures.…”

A systematic approach for assessing water, energy and food security during the COVID-19 pandemic: case study of Mexico

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that the interactions between WEF systems, viral pandemics, and human health have not been extensively studied as there is practically no quantitative analysis of any of these compensations or feedbacks (Calder et al, 2021 ). However, it is also revealed that WEF interconnections are not only vulnerable to resource constraints, but also to disruptions in human and financial capital on the supply and demand side (Al-Saidi & Hussein, 2021 ).…”

“…Since attempts to stop the spread of the virus have resulted in widespread economic and social disruption. Supply-side shocks have been characterized as having to do with the disruption of labor inputs and mismatches in the size of food packages caused by the closure of restaurants and other food services (Calder et al, 2021 ); however, we also consider disruptions in the logistics of products, which can be internal (displacement of producers and intermediaries, interruptions in national roads) or external, which can disrupt international trade supply chains through border road blockades or closures of ports and airports, as well as delays in customs. In addition, the volatility of internal prices and external policies that restrict exports, which can be tariff or sanitary, are considered.…”

“…This methodology could also be applied in scenario analysis, risk analysis and simulation of WEF systems. These approaches are increasingly appreciated as tools to structure complex policy questions (Scoblic & Tetlock, 2020 ) and as a useful approach for FEW resilience planning (Calder et al, 2021 ).…”

“Having a newborn is stressful enough:” Mothers’ experiences during the 2022 Infant Formula Shortage in Washington D.C.

“…1 The infant formula shortage was caused in part by voluntary recalls of several formulas produced by Abbott Nutrition, shutdown of an Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan in February 2022 due to bacterial contamination, 2 and ongoing supply chain interruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. 3 Because Abbott is among the largest suppliers of infant formula in the US, and produces specialized formulas for infants with severe allergies, gastrointestinal conditions, and metabolic disorders, 4 access to specialized formulas rapidly diminished early in 2022. This resulted in a lack of appropriate nutrition for infants with these and other health conditions.…”