Covid-19 has affected many people and has resulted in many people going to bed hungry during this time.
As many as 12 000 people could die per day by the end of the year as a result of hunger linked to Covid-19. Potentially more than could die from the disease, warned Oxfam in a new briefing published.
The global observed daily mortality rate for Covid-19 reached its highest recorded point in April 2020 at just over 10 000 deaths per day.
‘The Hunger Virus’ reveals how 121 million more people could be pushed to the brink of starvation this year as a result of the social and economic fallout from the pandemic, including through mass unemployment, disruption to food production and supplies, and declining aid.
Oxfam’s Interim Executive Director Chema Vera said: “Covid-19 is the last straw for millions of people already struggling with the impacts of conflict, climate change, inequality and a broken food system that has impoverished millions of food producers and workers".
The briefing reveals the world’s ten worst hunger hotspots - places such as Venezuela and South Sudan where the food crisis is most severe and getting worse as a result of the pandemic. It also highlights emerging epicentres of hunger - middle-income countries such as India, South Africa, and Brazil - where millions of people who were barely managing have been tipped over the edge by the pandemic.
Brazil: Millions of poor workers, with little in the way of savings or benefits to fall back on, lost their incomes as a result of lockdown. Only 10 percent of the financial support promised by the federal government had been distributed by late June with big business favored over workers and smaller more vulnerable companies.
India: Travel restrictions left farmers without vital migrant labour at the peak of the harvest season, forcing many to leave their crops in the field to rot. Traders have also been unable to reach tribal communities during the peak harvest season for forest products, depriving up to 100 million people of their main source of income for the year.
South Africa: Based on the General Household Survey (GHS) data, hunger in South Africa is notably higher than as measured in national lockdown between April 29 and May 6 2020 The reported increase in hunger amongst the surveyed respondents is indicative of the risk of greater food insecurity in the country as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kadidia Diallo, a female milk producer in Burkina Faso, told Oxfam: “Covid-19 is causing us a lot of harm. Giving my children something to eat in the morning has become difficult. We are totally dependent on the sale of milk, and with the closure of the market we can’t sell the milk anymore. If we don’t sell milk, we don't eat.”
Women, and women-headed households, are more likely to go hungry despite the crucial role they play as food producers and workers. Women are already vulnerable because of systemic discrimination that sees them earn less and own fewer assets than men.
They make up a large proportion of groups, such as informal workers, that have been hit hard by the economic fallout of the pandemic, and have also borne the brunt of a dramatic increase in unpaid care work as a result of school closures and family illness.
“Governments must contain the spread of this deadly disease but it is equally vital they take action to stop the pandemic killing as many - if not more - people from hunger,” said Vera.
“Governments can save lives now by fully funding the UN’s Covid-19 appeal, making sure aid gets to those who need it most, and cancelling the debts of developing countries to free up funding for social protection and healthcare.
"To end this hunger crisis, governments must also build fairer, more robust, and more sustainable food systems, that put the interests of food producers and workers before the profits of big food and agribusiness,” added Vera.