Friday, February 7, 2025

Food systems must be a central pandemic response option

The Covid-19 pandemic has unquestionably left scores of households in Botswana unable to meet basic nutritional needs and disrupted supply chains. However, the pandemic has also provided a window into opportunities for much-needed food systems reform in Botswana. Although the main priority of the government is to get the economy back up and running again, food is a central pandemic response option which cannot be ignored because it has a direct bearing on the economy and public health.

The issue of food systems is gaining momentum on the global stage as countries race against time to accelerate efforts to tackle malnutrition. This year several summits have been lined up including the United Nations Food Systems Summit which will be held in New York in September, the Nutrition for Growth Summit 2021 which will be held in Japan on 7th – 8th December 2021, and also the Climate Change Conference which will be held in Scotland. Experts hope that these summits will help policymakers in Botswana to come up with policies and actions that could bring radical improvements in the food systems.

A report prepared by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) entitled: 2021 Global Food Policy Report: Beyond the Pandemic Transforming Food Systems after COVID-19 states that the pandemic and associated policy responses “exposed weaknesses and inequalities within food sys­tems, including among different regions, rural and urban communities, rich and poor populations, and dis­advantaged groups such as women”. IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries

Before the first Covid-19 case was detected in Botswana in March 2020, the country’s food systems were facing severe challenges in achiev­ing equitable access to healthy, nutritious food for all. Sadly, the pandemic has reversed the little gains that have been made and has put the country further behind in reaching the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) whose end point is 2030.

While scores of Batswana households having lost much needed income since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, movement restrictions also increased food insecurity and spotlighted the dire inequalities within food systems based on factors such as geography, gender, and socioeconomic status. A policy brief from the United Nations (UN) states that in order to reshape and build resilient food systems, Botswana must strengthen social protection systems for nutrition to protect food access for the most vulnerable and focus on where the risk is most acute.

As a way of helping citizens stay afloat due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Botswana like many other countries around the world has mainly focused on rapid assistance to help families get by. Government grants such as food relief baskets also known as “mmaboipelego” which are food bailouts to the destitutes, marginalised and orphans helped some families to stay afloat, but they were not well coordinated.

“And this is exactly where the problem lies,” says Dietician, Lebogang Kopela speaking to this publication.

“There hasn’t been any noticeable gender sensitive social protection measures in Botswana. This is despite studies clearly showing that mainstreaming gender and inclusion reinforces the effectiveness of response planning,” she says.

It is estimated that of the 175 000 people manning the informal sector in Botswana, over 60% of them are women. The sudden lockdowns and movement restrictions in Botswana have meant that women headed households have suffered the most. According to the UN, when crises strike, women and girls are harder hit by economic impacts. “Around the world, women generally earn less and save less, are the majority of single-parent households and disproportionately hold more insecure jobs in the informal economy or service sector with less access to social protections,” states the UN newsletter entitled How Covid-19 impacts women and girls.

The World Bank also notes that although governments around the world are using social protection programs to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the current social protection programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are either gender blind or neutral at best.

A commentator who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity noted that the ideal food system comprises of basically 5 things which are environmentally sustainable, efficient, contributes to good health; inclusive of the most at risk groups and is resilient to regular shocks.

“Botswana needs food systems reform before the next pandemic. Let’s not forget climate change is already causing problems in this country. Having an effective food system is vital because it increases the chances of absorbing sudden shocks,” he says.

Producing food is clearly a fundamental agricultural and industrial activity which could extensively contribute to food security outcomes in Botswana. Agriculture remains amongst the largest economic sectors after diamonds and tourism in Botswana and provides rural dwellers with food, income and employment.

A few months ago, the minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Karabo Gare implored farmers to put more effort in producing commodities such as cereal, milk and horticultural products as they were in short supply. While WHO dietary changes remain a good response option, they require a radical shift in dietary habits in Botswana, raising questions about the affordability and accessibility of the foods. An analysis by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) states that 64.5 percent of Batswana cannot afford a healthy diet. With progress in reducing malnutrition in Botswana having stalled, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 of ending hunger and malnutrition and to ensure nutritious food for all by 2030 seems a tall order.

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