COVID-19: Minimizing impacts on international food markets and global food security

12 Apr 2021

One year ago, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. With about 130 million infections to date, and a death toll that is fast approaching 3 million people, there is little cause for celebrations. While the health crisis will hopefully subside soon, the socio-economic consequences rippling through communities across the world will be felt for years to come. All this against the backdrop of an already grim outlook for almost a quarter of the world’s population who live in places affected by humanitarian crises and conflicts.

The severity of the socio-economic fallout of the pandemic calls for urgent action, including ways to minimize any adverse impacts of COVID-19 on international food markets and global food security. What lessons from the past can help us better cope with the current situation? What experiences can be drawn from the last major meltdown of the world economy, namely the period of 2007-2009 that is now known as the Great Recession, as well as the global food price crisis that followed?

Surging international food prices and growing uncertainties surrounding global food supplies ultimately led to the establishment of AMIS, which will soon reach its ten-year anniversary. However, the initiative's overall approach of sharing information and coordinating action is as timely as ever. While today’s stakes are arguably much higher, AMIS does illustrate how a global crisis can be addressed successfully.

One lesson learned from the AMIS experience is that global problems must be resolved through collective efforts involving all actors concerned. The merits of genuine international collaboration has clearly been demonstrated in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine at record speed. By recognizing that we are all in this together, and that we can only advance united, scientists around the globe shared their data and findings for a common objective: win the fight against the coronavirus. 

While still a work in progress, collaboration, openness and information sharing continue to be at the heart of AMIS. The current crisis calls for even more vigorous efforts to work together for a common goal, and these efforts will only succeed if they are built on transparency and trust.