“We must work very hard to limit COVID-19’s damaging effects on food security and nutrition”, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO) said in his opening remarks launching the new strategy: “We need to be more country-driven, innovative and work closely hand in hand”.
FAO’s comprehensive COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme aims to avert a global food emergency during and after the pandemic while simultaneously working on medium to long-term development responses for food security and nutrition.
To provide a coordinate response that ensures access to nutritious food globally, resources and partnerships must be mobilize at country, regional and global level, requiring a $1.2 billion initial investment.
The new programme aims to mitigate the immediate impacts of the pandemic while strengthening the longer-term resilience of food systems and livelihoods.
“This is how FAO has built its COVID-19 comprehensive response and recovery programme, and today we are asking you to join us”, said the FAO chief.