how does our government meet the ever increasing demand of food medicine and other needed in the present situation of covid
Answers
Answer:
A pandemic is not a new event encountered in the history of humanity because mankind has faced various pandemics in history. The common point of pandemics is their serious negative effects on the global economy. Considering the food supply chain, one of the most important sectors of the economy, it has been seen that COVID-19 has an impact on the whole process from the field to the consumer. In the light of recent challenges in food supply chain, there is now considerable concern about food production, processing, distribution, and demand. COVID-19 resulted in the movement restrictions of workers, changes in demand of consumers, closure of food production facilities, restricted food trade policies, and financial pressures in food supply chain. Therefore, governments should facilitate the movement of workers and agri-food products. In addition, small farmers or vulnerable people should be supported financially. Facilities should change the working conditions and maintain the health and safety of employees by altering safety measures. Food protectionist policies should be avoided to prevent an increase in food prices. In conclusion, each country must realize the severity of the situation and sometimes should tighten or loosen the measures according to the spread of the pandemic. The supply chain also should be flexible enough to respond to the challenges in the food supply chain. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the agriculture and food sector and to summarize the recommendations required to reduce and control the effect of the pandemic.
Hope it helps!!
Currently, there is no reason for the health crisis to develop into a global food crisis. Supplies of staple crops are large, production prospects are favourable, and cereal stocks are expected to reach their third highest level on record.1 Moreover, most countries have designated the agriculture and agro-food sector as essential and exempt from business closure and restrictions on movement. For many countries, the direct impacts of the pandemic on primary agriculture should be limited, as the disease does not affect the natural resources upon which production is based. However, the virus poses a serious threat to food security and livelihoods in the poorest countries, where agricultural production systems are more labour-intensive and there is less capacity to withstand a severe macroeconomic shock.
Because food is a basic necessity, the level of food demand should be affected less by the crisis than the demand for other goods and services. However, there has been a major shift in the structure of demand, with a collapse in demand from restaurants, hotels and catering, the closure of open markets, and a surge in demand from supermarkets. There are signs that businesses along the food chain are already adapting to shifts in demand, for example by switching production lines and increasing their capacity to manage larger inventories; moving to on-line platforms and direct delivery to households; and hiring temporary staff. In all but the poorest countries,2 the biggest challenges for the sector come from the measures needed to contain COVID-19; the necessary adjustments within the sector to comply with those measures (which may increase costs); and the need to find alternative markets for products affected as people change their consumption habits in response to COVID-19.
Limits on the mobility of people across borders and lockdowns are contributing to labour shortages for agricultural sectors in many countries, particularly those characterised by periods of peak seasonal labour demand or labour-intensive production. For example, newly implemented travel bans within the European Union, as well as the closure of the Schengen Area, have significantly reduced the available workforce for the fruit and vegetable sector in a number of European countries.3 4 Harvesting season is imminent for many products in the northern hemisphere, and a shortage of labour could lead to production losses and shortages in the market. In many countries, this comes on top of existing difficulties in sourcing seasonal labour.
On the other hand, disruptions downstream from the farm gate are in some cases causing surpluses to accumulate, putting a strain on storage facilities and, for highly perishables, increasing food losses. For some products, supply side disruptions are being compounded by demand side reductions (in particular foods typically eaten away from home, and luxury items – see below). In combination, these effects are putting a strain on farm incomes. Moreover, those farm household income losses may be compounded by reduced off-farm income.
The COVID-19 pandemic may also affect the availability of key intermediate inputs for farmers. For the moment, there do not seem to be shortages in producing regions of developed countries, although farmers may face extra difficulties in sourcing inputs due to additional restrictions on the movement of people and goods.5 However, in the People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”), for example, the production of pesticides declined sharply and only resumed gradually after production plants were shut down following the outbreak. Low availability and/or high prices of inputs such as pesticides could weigh on yields and crop production in 2020 and 2021, particularly in developing countries.6 Closing borders or slowing down the transboundary movement of seeds could potentially hamper seed supply chains and on-time delivery of seed with negative impacts on agriculture, feed and food production over the next season and further into the future.