Les eff ets perturbateurs de la Covid-19 sur les systèmes de production alimentaire sont réels : diffi culté d’accès aux semences et aux engrais, circulation limitée des marchandises, baisse de la demande, pénurie de main-d’œuvre, en sont quelques exemples. Dans ce contexte, le défi ne consiste pas seulement à saisir l’ampleur et la complexité probables des perturbations, mais également à les identifi er et à en assurer un suivi en temps réel.

The pandemic has not left a single region of the world untouched. Its disruptive eff ects have equally reached into every corner of the global economy. Global primary commodity markets in particular are aff ected by many of the measures taken to adapt to and control the spread of the pandemic. Measures to minimize the risk of cross-border infections interfere with the normal operations of commerce, slowing down or impeding the movement of goods around the globe. The changes aff ecting global supply chains can have signifi cant repercussion on national economies.

La pandémie risque de perturber davantage les marchés locaux des produits alimentaires, avec des conséquences plus sévères que toutes les crises de ces dernières années, en particulier pour les groupes les plus démunis et les plus vulnérables. En eff et, ces derniers sont beaucoup plus aff ectés par les changements des prix des denrées locales que les autres groupes de population, en raison non seulement d’un pouvoir d’achat plus limité mais aussi des diff érences au niveau des paniers de consommation. 

Les crises comme celle que nous traversons actuellement ne font souvent que mettre en évidence une vulnérabilité latente et chronique . La plupart des communautés qui souff rent le plus des crises sont des communautés déjà minées par des menaces multiples sur leurs moyens de subsistance. Ces conditions préexistantes érodent la capacité d’absorption des communautés et amplifi ent l’impact des chocs.

The introduction of confinement and other measures to control the pandemic make the situation even more diffi cult. There is no way of knowing whether farmers have access to inputs, in time or in adequate quantities, whether they have been too sick to tend to their farmers or could work only partially. One would eventually fi nd out at the end of the growing season from the impact of harvested quantities. One is then left to play catch up to deal with a crisis situation. The complete lack of information about growing conditions can be overcome by using today’s digital technologies. 

The pandemic is likely to be more disruptive to local food markets and thus have more serious effects on the poorest and most vulnerable groups and communities than any of the crises in recent years. This is because the poor and vulnerable are affected by changes in local food staple prices significantly more than other population groups, not only because of more limited purchasing power but also because of differences in consumption baskets.

AKADEMIYA2063 has developed a broad data, analytics and communications agenda on the impacts of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic among African countries.

L’Institut International de Recherche sur les Politiques Alimentaires (IFPRI) et Le Système Régional d’Analyse Stratégique et de Gestion de Connaissances (ReSAKSS) ont organisé un webinaire sur le thème : "Le Commerce Agricole Africain à l'Epreuve de la Crise Sanitaire: Présentation du Moniteur 2019 du Commerce Agricole en Afrique (AATM) 2019 et Discussion autour des Potentiels Effets de la Covid-19". 

Joseph Karugia, coordinator of the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System for Eastern and Central Africa (ReSAKSS-ECA) leads a capacity building session (photo credit: ILRI/Leonard Kirui).

This note analyzes the trajectory of the benchmark and its implications for the effort required of countries to remain on-track or get on-track toward achieving the goals and targets of the Malabo Declaration by 2025. It also analyzes the change in the overall score obtained by different countries between the 2018 and 2020 BRs by decomposing the contribution of different indictors to the change. This helps to explain why fewer countries were on-track in the 2020 BR compared to the 2018 BR.