By now COVID has reached every part of the world, and mitigating its long-term effects will require proactive creative solutions and an unprecedented level of international cooperation.

One of the most pressing issues is certainly the impact of the pandemic at all levels of economy—local, national, and global—and urgent measures are needed to prevent the public health crisis from morphing into a socio-economic one. It is with this important objective in view that in 2020 the Italian Government proposed an innovative new Food Coalition, to be led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to improve global food access, increase the resilience of agri-food systems and set them on a more sustainable course.

Food security and the pandemic

According to UN data, most of the world’s poor live in rural areas. Although the lower population density in these places is an advantage in terms of slowing the spread of the virus, many other factors—lack of access to medical care, a higher instance of preexisting conditions and lack of information about the disease—compound to make these populations vulnerable. Perhaps even more than the primary public health effects of the virus, the world’s rural poor—who often lack access to secure income, insurance or any type of institutionalized relief—are extremely vulnerable to its socioeconomic impacts.

The negative impacts of the virus on rural communities mean that not only are the lives and well-being of hundreds of millions of people at risk (the World Bank estimates that approximately 80 percent of the 734 million extreme poor live in rural areas), but there is potential for a ripple-effect, as rural areas are vital to the world’s food supply. The pandemic’s negative impact on rural communities, who are operative at the most crucial stages of the food supply chain including production, processing, trade and transport, presents a significant risk to wider food systems and national food security in many countries. 

A cooperative solution

Deemed a “network of networks”, with over 30 countries already expressing interest in joining, the Food Coalition is a voluntary multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral alliance designed to overcome the pandemic’s disruptive impacts and help countries get back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

According to the FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, “The aim is to build a global alliance with a network of national governments, international organizations, thought leaders, civil societies and the private sector working together for a unified global action”. 

The FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations, headquartered in Rome, who’s goal is to achieve food security for all the world’s population and ensure that people everywhere have “regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.” The agency has over 194 member states and operates  in over 130 countries.

FAO and Luiss

Luiss University has important ties with the FAO, including an internship program and a network of over 45 alumni employed at the institution. Luiss students interested in working for the FAO and helping out with its mission to end world hunger can check out internship opportunities on the agency’s website, or the course on International Institutions and Global Governance, which is taught as part of the Master’s in Global Management and Politics.