నైరూప్య

The impact of covid-19 on food security in a developing country: Nigeria.

Ogbonna AI*, Ogbonna KN

SARS-CoV2 is a novel Coronavirus identified as the cause of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that originated in Wuhan, China in late 2019 and spread worldwide. The virus causes severe respiratory infection and is zoonotic, SARS-CoV2 is transmitted person-to-person through aerosols and droplets from infected persons. The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International dimension on 30 January 2020. By March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic. Till date, a functional vaccine is yet to be found for the disease. A series of containment measures have been implemented by various Governments such as social distancing, regular washing of hands with soap under running water, use of nose masks especially in public places, use of hand sanitizers, border closures and finally a total lockdown in many Cities Worldwide. The disease outbreak has had severe impact on both the social life and the economic well-being of many countries. The pandemic has resulted in very serious food crises in many Developing Countries as farmers no longer produce and there is a total restriction in the movement of food products as a result of the lockdown. More people are dying of hunger than COVID-19. The real impact of post- COVID-19 might be very difficult to assess as no one can predict the end of the pandemic. However, the economies of many Developing Countries are likely to crash and there is likely to be famine in such Countries. It is most unlikely that Developed Countries can give readily helping hands as they are going to be faced with their own individual Social and Economic problems.