What are the key challenges agriculture and food systems are facing and how have they been exacerbated during the COVID-19 crisis? UNEP Deputy Executive Director speaks at FAO Brussels Dialogue on agriculture and biodiversity, June 2020

The world is facing unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the immediate global priority is to tackle this public health emergency, our long-term response must address the disruption of nature’s balance, loss of biodiversity and degradation of natural resources and ecosystems. What are the key challenges agriculture and food systems are facing and how have they been exacerbated during the COVID-19 crisis?

This was the specific question addressed by Joyce Msuya, UN Environment Programme (UNEP)’s Deputy Executive Director, on 18 June in the context of an FAO Brussels online dialogue organized by the Brussels Office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in close cooperation with UNEP.

The online event brought together speakers from the UN (FAO and UNEP), the European Commission and the European Parliament, to discuss the topic of mainstreaming biodiversity across the agricultural sector, and the linkages with the EU Green Deal and the global response to COVID 19. Ms Msuya spoke on behalf of UNEP at a high level panel, which was followed by more technical discussions with experts from these institutions.

In identifying the key challenges agriculture and food systems are facing, Ms Msuya pointed out that even prior to this COVID 19 pandemic, the linkages between agriculture and environmental degradation are “absolutely scientifically proven and visible”. From UNEP studies and others, we see that over 60% of global terrestrial biodiversity loss is linked to food production. In addition, 33% of soils are moderately to highly degraded due to erosion.

She brought forward following 3 main challenges which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis:

The first relates to the global food supply chains and domestic food supply chains: Based on various studies, Ms Msuya observed that it is clear that the pandemic threatens to trigger the worst global food emergency in more than half a century. We are already seeing huge disruptions of the global food supply chain due to the slowing of harvest. Also the lockdowns, she noted, have caused in some places like in East Africa the disruption of food markets and agrobusinesses, and in other places produce has been left to rot and is wasted. While on average food prices remain stable, she said that we see spikes of food price increases in many places because of disruptions and limited vendors. As a result, by the end of year there are projections that we will likely see increasing numbers of populations facing starvation. The World Bank and the UN have indicated, that on average, we may see 49 million more people who may be forced into absolute poverty by end of the year.

Secondly, Ms Msuya indicated that we see a compound of multiple crises whereby the COVID 19 pandemic has been added to already existing very challenging biodiversity and food system crises. This is for instance the case with extreme locus plagues in East Africa, affecting Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Kenya is confronted with the worst locus plague in 70 years, and this is affecting the agriculture sector and food prices. Climate change was also an existing challenge prior to COVID19, with parts of East Africa seeing extreme droughts last year that have led to food prices spiking up to 300.

“Thirdly, this is humanitarian issue,” she told the audience, as we are seeing job losses, disruptions of agrobusiness and food chains, etc.

Ms Msuya conceded that this has not turned out to be the Super Year for Nature as we had expected. But as countries rebuild their economies, we should save this moment as chance to build back better and reflect these linkages between agriculture and environment.

In her view an important lesson to take into consideration in building back better, is that we urgently need to make our food systems more resilient to shocks. Referring to the recently adopted EU Farm to Fork Strategy and Biodiversity Strategy of the European Commission, Ms Msuya said she was excited to learn more about their implementation, because we could use this time to reflect on how we can capitalize on shorter food chains which in turn would create markets for farmers and improve access to both inputs as well as outputs.

We can also look at this crisis as a turning point to rebalance and transform our food systems, making them more inclusive, sustainable, resilient, in support of the Sustainable Development Goals, she observed. We must reduce post harvest food losses at every stage of the value chain by improving access to low cost handling and storage technologies, she added. And, lastly, as we make a more sustainable food system post COVID 19 she opted that we need to work on things like water and energy savings, irrigation, conservation, agriculture and livestock management amongst others.

In her closing statement, she reiterated that UNEP is committed to work with all the partners to move this agenda forward on integrated approaches, with nature at the core, and to support the EU Green Deal.

Background

The FAO Brussels dialogue was organized in the form of a webinar, to the backdrop of the recently enhanced collaboration between FAO and UNEP following a 2019 renewed partnership agreement, as well as the recent adoption of the EU Biodiversity Strategy and Farm to Form Strategies, and ongoing discussions towards the adoption of post-2020 global biodiversity framework in Kunming in 2021. (*)

The two UN bodies also seized this opportunity to publicly express appreciation for the vital partnership and support from the EU around projects aimed at restoring degraded land, preserving wildlife, forests and fisheries, and at the same time aimed at securing food systems for the population - as Rodrigo de la Puerta, Director of Liaison Office of FAO with the European Union and the Kingdom of Belgium put it in his introduction. The two EU strategies were welcomed by the UN speakers, and as put by Maria-Helena Semedo , FAO Deputy Director General and Coordinator for Natural Resources, “bring the key for a more sustainable European system.”

The high level speakers each addressed different issues:

Ms Semedo was invited to highlight how FAO mainstreams biodiversity and integrates nature-based solutions in food and agriculture, as well as the importance of ‘One Health’.

Ms Msuya was asked what the key challenges agriculture and food systems are facing, and how they have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 crisis.

Mr Daniel CALLEJA CRESPO, Director-General, DG ENVI, European Commission (4’) was invited to speak about what areas the EU will focus on in the next months with its Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategies; and

Ms Carla Montesi, Director for Climate and Prosperity at DG DEVCO, European Commission, was asked to talk about the global dimensions of the EU’s paradigm shift to bring nature back. What is the EU doing on a global level to reverse the biodiversity loss and address biodiversity loss, since the Farm to Fork strategy and Biodiversity Strategies have an important external dimension.

The webinar was attended by some 300 people mainly based in Brussels but also from other parts of the world.

A recording of the webinar can be found here https://youtu.be/-jFILkPe0KM

(*FAO and UNEP are also both lead organisers of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), and for the first time, UNEP co-authored FAO's flagship report on The State of the World's Forests 2020 which they jointly launched in May 2020.)