How the UN and partners are addressing COVID-19 impacts on food systems and nutrition

Disruptions of food systems amid COVID-19 may affect people’s nutritional and health status. Web-based resources from the UN System and other actors offer valuable knowledge to understand these impacts and the work to address them.

The current global outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has disrupted food systems around the world. Food environments are where people meet the food system. Around the world people’s food environments are rapidly changing in both their external dimensions – food availability, prices, vendors- as well as personal dimensions – geographical access, affordability, convenience and desirability.  These rapid food environment changes are influencing the consumers’ dietary practices and can lead to a deterioration in both individual, and country level, nutritional and health status.

People, and their health and nutrition status, are what counts. Sustainable healthy diets that contain sufficient fruits and vegetables are crucial in protecting people’s immunity. Particularly for those at risk of, or suffering from food insecurity and those with pre-existing non-communicable diseases who are at a heightened risk of becoming severely ill with the virus.

The work of UN agencies and partner organizations to promote nutrition and healthy food systems during the pandemic is continually expanding and strengthening. Contributing to the coronavirus pandemic response, the UNSCN has compiled a list of available resources and key readings with a focus on nutrition and food systems. This list will be continually updated and expanded as more resources become available.

UN AGENCIES GENERAL RESPONSE

• WFP: Emergency Response and Situation Reports (Continually updated)
  Latest updates on WFP’s response to COVID-19, key links and situation reports.
• UNICEF: COVID-19 – what you need to know about the virus to protect you and your family (Continually updated)
  Latest news and fact based information on COVID-19, including advice for parents, teens, teachers and employees. Latest updates on Nutrition related programming, technical advise and information birefs can be found in ‘Nutrition- COVID-19’.
• FAO: COVID-19 Outbreak (Continually updated)
  An overview of FAO’s action in regard to the outbreak, key messages, policy tools, questions and answers. FAO’s component of the Global COVID-19 Humanitarian Response Plan to address the impact of COVID-19 in food crises can be downloaded here.
• WHO: COVID-19 pandemic (Continually updated)
  Latest updates on COVID-19 including daily press releases, technical guidance, advice for the public and research updates.
• UN: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) (Continually updated);
  UNSG Report Shared repsonsability, global solidarity: responding to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 (March 2020)
• OCHA: Global humanitarian response plan COVID-19 (25 March)
  Prepared by members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), including UN, other international organizations and NGOs with a humanitarian mandate, to analyse and respond to the direct public health and indirect immediate humanitarian consequences of the pandemic, particularly on people in countries already facing other crises.
• UNDP: COVID-19 pandemic
  Drawing on the experience with other outbreaks such as Ebola, HIV, SARS, TB and malaria, as well as their long history of working with the private and public sector, UNDP will help countries to urgently and effectively respond to COVID-19 as part of its mission to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and build resilience to crises and shocks.
• UNEP: UNEP Statement on COVID-19
• UNOPS: Dedicated COVID-19 page (Continually updated)

• IFAD: Dedicated COVID-19 page (Continually updated)
• UNRWA: UNRWA Responds to COVID19 (Continually updated)
• UN Network on Migration COVID-19 page (Continually updated)

FOOD SYSTEMS

• UNSCN: Food Environments in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts and positive policy actions to deliver sustainable healthy diets for all (27 March)
• FAO Presentations:
  – UPCOMING: Webinar April 23- FAO’s Work on Nutrition and Food Systems in the time of COVID-19, Anna Lartey. Register here.
  – Coronavirus Food Supply Chain Under Strain What to do? (24 March)
  – Video: Food Supply Chains Under Strain, what to do? (26 March)Tools:
  –Keeping food and agricultural systems alive – Analyses and solutions in a period of crises – COVID-19 Pandemic (Continually updated)
  – Food and Agriculture Policy Decision Analysis (FAPDA)– a database of the latest food system policy decisions  in response to COVID-19(continually updated)
  – Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (continually updated)
• FAO Policy Briefs:
  FAO has produced a range of policy briefs on the impact of COVID-19 on the food system as well as guidance to mitigate the negative consequences. You can find a full list here.Topics include food supply chains, smallholder producers, urban food systems, fisheries/ aquaculture, food safety and food value chains.
• CFS/HLPE
  – CFS Chair’s Statement on COVID-19 pandemic + HLPE Interim Issues Paper on the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Security and Nutrition (24 March)
• CGIAR
  – CGIAR’s Response to COVID-19 (Continually updated)
• Global Food Security Cluster
  – Coronavirus, impact on well-being, health, food access and food security (25 March)
• WFP
  – Economic and food security implications of the COVID-19 outbreak (24 March)
• WHO
  – WHO recommendations to reduce risk of transmission of emerging pathogens from animals to humans in live animal markets (March)
  – WHO Guidance for schools, workplaces & institutions (8 April)

DATA PREGNANCY, BREASTFEEDING, INFANT/YOUNG CHILD FEEDING

• WHO
  – Information Flyer: Breastfeeding advice during the COVID-19 outbreak. (WHO-EMRO Office, March)
  – Information Flyer: Breastfeeding with COVID-19, Strategies for mothers who are too unwell to breastfeed (WHO, April)
  – Q&A on COVID-19, pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding (18 March)
  

• WFP
  – COVID-19 and Pregnancy (18 March)
  – COVID-19 and Breastfeeding (18 March)

• UNICEF, GNC & GTAM
  – Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) in the context of COVID-19 (30 March, updated every 10 days)
  – Management of Child Wasting in the Context of COVID-19 (27 March, updated every 10 days)

• The Global Alliance for Vitamin A (GAVA)
  – Vitamin A Supplementation: Protecting Children’s Lives in the Context of COVID-19

• UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP & WHO
  – Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) in the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (26 March)

SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN

• WFP/FAO/UNICEF
  – Interim guidance note on “Mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food and nutrition of schoolchildren”

• UNICEF, WHO & IFRC
  – Key Messages and Actions for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Schools
• WFP
  – Global Monitoring of School Meals during COVID-19 School Closures
  (a continually updated map showing the number of children no longer receiving school meals)
• UNESCO
  – COVID-19 education, nutrition, health and well-being resource list. Compiled by UNESCO in assocation with the FRESH network (continually updated)

• The Global Child Nutrition Foundation
  – The GCNF website provides up to date insights into the country level impacts and mitigation efforts to protect school aged children from malnutrition related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

• WHO
  – Helping children cope with stress during the 2019 COVID-19 outbreak

ADULTS

• WHO (all resources contain advice on healthy eating)
  – Food and nutrition tips during self-quarantine (by WHO-Europe, March)
  – Nutrition Advice for Adults During the COVID-19 (By WHO-EMRO, March)
  – Information note on COVID-19 and NCDs (23 March)
  – Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak (18 March)
  – Coping with stress during the 2019 COVID-19 Outbreak (English, French, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Spanish)
  Ask WHO
  – How can I grocery shop safely in the time of COVID-19?
  – How should I wash fruit and vegetables in the time of COVID-19? 
• FAO
  – Maintaining a healthy diet during the COVID-19 Pandemic (27 March)
  – 9 tips to fight food waste (March)
• UNICEF
  – Easy, Affordable and Healthy Eating Tips for Families during the COVID-19 Outbreak (31 March)

EMERGENCY NUTRITION RESPONSE

• GNC
  The Global Nutrition Cluster has a live website with daily nutrition and COVID-19 related updates and is collating COVID-19 related emergency nutrition resources at the global, regional, and country-level (continually updated)
  – Nutrition Coordination guidance in the context of COVID-19 (6 April)
  – Generic ToR for the country-level Nutrition and COVID-19 Taskforce (English, French)
  – Generic template for the Joint Statement on COVID-19 and Infant and Young Child Feeding
  – Webinar Recording: A New Tool- The Nutrition in Emergencies IYCF-E Checklist (31 March)

• GTAM
  – COVID-19 and Nutrition Technical Brief  (13 March, Updated Fortnightly)
• WFP
  – WFP’s additional recommendations for the management of maternal and child malnutition prevention and treatment in the context of COVID-19 (2 April)
  – Recommendations For Adjusting Food Distribution Standard Operating Procedures In The Context Of The Covid-19 Outbreak (13 March)
  – Guidance for cash-based transfers in the context of the Covid-19 (13 March)

• UNICEF
  – NutritionI COVID-19: a knowledge dissemination tool to share programmatic guidance, position papers, technical notes, and emerging research and evidence being developed by UNICEF and its partners

• UN Women, WHO, IFRC and OCHA
  – COVID-19: How to include marginalized and vulnerable people in risk communication and community engagement (19 March)
  A guide for risk communication and community engagement with marginalized people who are more vulnerable in emergencies.

• ENN
  The en-net provides a place to submit questions surrounding the emergency response to COVID-19. Current threads are grouped under nutrition programming and include infant and young child feeding, breastfeeding, prevention and treatment of MAM.

ARTICLES AND BLOG POSTS PROVIDING INSIGHTS INTO NUTRITION AND FOOD SYSTEMS IN THE RESPONSE TO COVID-19

• IFAD:
  – Shaping a holistic response to COVID-19:Protecting food systems and rural producers (9 April)
  – Don’t allow the coronavirus to open up another front (31 March)
  – Changing lives in times of uncertainty: how innovative agriculture builds resilience (30 March)
  – The potential impact of COVID-19 on SDG 2 (food security) – in China and globally (13 March)
• FAO:
  – World Food Prices drop in March (6 April)
  – Mitigating impacts of COVID-19 on food trade and markets. Joint Statement by the Directors-General of FAO, WHO and WTO (31 March);
  – World Economic Forum: FAO Director-General speaks against food trade restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic (30 March);
  – A battle plan for ensuring global food supplies during the COVID-19 crisis; FAO Director-General urges G20 to ensure that food value chains are not disrupted during COVID-19 pandemic (26 March);
  – COVID-19 and Food Supply: A Four-Pronged Battle Plan for Countries by FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero Cullen (23 March);

• WFP:
  – Food for thought: 7 tips on keeping a healthy diet in the face of Coronavirus (23 March);
  – World Food Programme gears up to support children left without meals due to COVID-19 school closures (23 March)
  – COVID-19 and the 5 Major Threats it Poses to Global Food Security (16 March);
  – How to minimize the impact of Coronavirus on food security (16 March);
• GAIN:
  – The COVID-19 Crisis and Food Systems: probable impacts and potential mitigation and adaptation responses + Table (23 March)
• IFPRI:
  – How COVID-19 may disrupt food supply chains in developing countries (2 April)
  – IFPRI Insights Special Issue: Impacts of Coronavirus on Food and Nutrition Security, Poverty, and Development (23 March)
  – Preventing global food security crisis under COVID-19 emergency (6 March)
• CFS, HLPE, UNSG Special Envoy 2021 Food Systems Summit: Ensuring Food Security in the Era of COVID-19 (1 April)
• Asia United Nations Network on Nutrition (FAO, WFP, WHO and UNICEF) Joint statement on nutrition in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and the Pacific (17 April)
• UN Secretary-General’s statement on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on Children (16 April)
• CGIAR A4NH: Reshaping Food Systems after COVID-19 (20 April)

RELEVANT NETWORKS, KNOWLEDGE HUBS AND COPS

• Scaling up Nutrition (SUN)- COVID-19 and Nutrition: a knowledge hub for members of the SUN Movement that shares articles and updates which shed light on important links between COVID-19 and nutrition, hunger, health and food systems.
• SDG2 Advocacy Hub- SDG2 & COVID-19 Reading List: The SDG2 Advocacy Hub brings together NGOs, advocacy groups, civil society, the private sector and UN agencies to share expertise, ideas, and to collaborate on campaigns to achieve SDG2. The Secretariat has pulled together a number of thought pieces highlighting the impact of COVID-19 on food, food systems and more.
• Nutrition Connect: this initiative mobilises knowledge, share experiences, and stimulate dialogue on public private engagements (PPE) for nutrition. A special section on COVID-19 has been created to bring together news and resources related to the risks, responses and impact of COVID-19 on food systems and nutrition.
• Agriculture-Nutrition COP (Ag2Nut): Join the community to connect with a global network of professionals whose work focuses on the intersection of agriculture and nutrition. Webinars discussions about COVID-19, food systems, and interaction with malnutrition are planned for early April.
• Food for the Cities : Join the community to get in touch with a large group of practitioners, researchers, professors, urban and rural community leaders, technicians and professionals in diverse agency settings sharing ways in which communities, cities and national governments are organizing to address enormous economic and social transformations (in the food system) as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Agriculture, Nutrition and Health (ANH) Academy: this is a global research network in agriculture and food systems for improved nutrition and health to serve as a platform for learning and sharing. They offer an open-access map of experiences, perspectives, opportunities and questions from researchers around the world about the impact of COVID-19 and other health emergencies on food systems, agriculture and nutrition.
• The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is curating a special series of blogposts analyzing the impacts of COVID-19 on national and global food and nutrition security, poverty and development.
• SFS Programme statement on the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis and food systems. Read about key considerations for our food systems during this unprecedented crisis.
• International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD): a commentary that takes stock of emergency measures taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 and provides governments with options for avoiding a surge of investor-state claims challenging those measures.

SOURCE:
UNSCN
COVER PHOTO:
©PARM/Carlos Acosta