Farmers carry brunt of conflict, pandemic

Posted to the Mindanao Examiner (Jun 4, 2020): Farmers carry brunt of conflict, pandemic

PEOPLE IN conflict-affected areas faced risky and limited access to their farms even before the outbreak of the coronavirus disease or Covid-19, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross or ICRC.

It said with the movement restrictions, farming activities shrank considerably while agricultural inputs became harder and more expensive to get. ICRC anticipates food insecurity to increase, particularly in volatile areas of Mindanao where agricultural activities are the main source of livelihood.

The ICRC is now calling for social protection programs to be maintained or extended, and that they include the most vulnerable. Existing humanitarian activities focused on food security, nutrition and livelihoods must also be reinforced, it said.

It noted that the typical coping mechanism that families use to overcome lean times -- asking for loans from neighbors or family, reducing purchases, using savings -- have been exhausted for many. The hardest-hit households were already food insecure, with physical and financial access to food markets restricted due to Covid-19

It said worryingly, chronic hunger and malnutrition and Covid-19 are mutually reinforcing, as previous outbreaks — Ebola, SARS, MERS — have negatively impacted food security, increasing malnutrition rates. Improving health systems in conflict zones offers positive returns locally and globally.

“In the near term, strengthening health, water and sanitation systems in conflict zones, to prevent and manage infectious disease transmission, must become a priority,” said Esperanza Martinez, ICRC’s head of health.

Additionally, she said income shortages could hit families at a time when countries struggle to provide essential services, deepening food insecurity for people already at risk. When movement restrictions are imposed, people face a dire choice between earning a living and protecting their health.

Families that depend on remittances from migrant relatives are also at risk, as income opportunities even in wealthier countries deteriorate. Global remittances are projected to decline 20 percent in 2020 due to the Covid-induced economic crisis, according to the World Bank. (With a report from the Mindanao Examiner.)

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