What are the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic for food and nutritional security?

Responsible researcher: Viviane Pires Ribeiro

Paper Title: Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for food and nutritional security in Brazil

Authors: Rita de Cássia Ribeiro-Silva, Marcos Pereira, Tereza Campello, Érica Aragão, Jane Mary de Medeiros Guimarães, Andréa JF Ferreira, Maurício Lima Barreto and Sandra Maria Chaves dos Santos

Intervention Location: Brazil

Sample Size: Not included

Big topic: Health

Variable of Main Interest: Food and nutritional security

Type of Intervention: Debate on the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic

Methodology: Bibliographic research

With the spread of COVID-19 throughout Brazil, the enormous discrepancy between different social realities that coexist in the country became even more evident, reigniting debates about Food and Nutritional Security (FNS). In this context, Ribeiro-Silva et al. (2020) discuss the repercussions of COVID-19 on the food and nutritional security situation and its interface with social protection policies, seeking to contribute to the debate on the measures to be adopted by governments and society to promote and guarantee FNS and prevent insecurity and the expansion of hunger advance during and after the social and health crisis generated by the pandemic.

Assessment Context

It has been noted in recent years that after decades of steady decline, the trend of world hunger, which is reflected in the prevalence of malnutrition, was reversed in 2015. Despite rates remaining virtually unchanged at a level slightly below 11%, the number of people affected by hunger has increased. In 2018, for example, approximately 821 million people in the world were still hungry. Furthermore, estimates show that this situation could be worsened by the pandemic, pushing around 49 million people into extreme poverty by the end of 2020.

In Brazil, malnutrition affected approximately 5.2 million people in the period from 2015 to 2017. In addition to malnutrition, overweight and obesity continue to grow in all regions of the country, particularly among adolescents and adults. Low intake of micronutrients such as iron, calcium and vitamins A and D, deficiency diseases known as “hidden hunger” remain important nutritional problems among Brazilians, which has serious implications for health and physical and cognitive development, with direct effects on people's quality of life. The data also show that 27.2% of women of childbearing age (14 to 49 years) suffered from anemia during this period, with anemia being one of the nutritional problems that pose the most significant risks to health, particularly when it occurs during pregnancy. pregnancy.

Intervention Details

Ribeiro-Silva et al. (2020) highlight that unresolved social and economic inequalities, the advancement of neoliberal policies and the dismantling of the system that included inclusive social policies that promote Food and Nutritional Security have been adding to the current Brazilian situation, which tends to worsen given the impacts of the pandemic. Food insecurity in Brazilian households, whether mild, moderate or severe, is likely to increase in magnitude with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, the authors seek to discuss the repercussions of COVID-19 on the food and nutritional security situation and its interface with social protection policies.

Methodology Details

In order to contribute to the debate on the measures to be adopted by governments and society to promote and guarantee food and nutritional security and prevent insecurity and the expansion of hunger from advancing during and after the social and health crisis generated by the pandemic, Ribeiro -Silva et al. (2020) analyze official documents on decrees and laws related to combating COVID-19 at the state and federal level. Prioritizing actions aimed at generating income and interventions aimed at ensuring adequate food. To this end, the study was designed in three parts: the first covers the situation of social protection policies (the dismantling of social protection policies in Brazil); the second refers to the dimensions of food and nutritional security; and the third presents possible strategies for confronting hunger and following the path to food and nutritional security in Brazil.

Results

The study carried out by Ribeiro-Silva et al. (2020) shows that the reduction in family purchasing power and the rise in food prices in recent years were the main factors that led to considerable declines in food consumption, particularly of nutritionally healthier foods. All this in the midst of aggressive food environments, full of ultra-processed foods (easily accessible and low cost), thus worsening the situation of food and nutritional insecurity among the most vulnerable. In this scenario, the authors emphasize that the dismantling of public policies and the National Council for Food and Nutritional Security exposes, in the COVID-19 pandemic, the State's omission in reducing inequalities and tackling food and nutritional insecurity in Brazil and could leave people/families – already exposed to food deprivation – more vulnerable to hunger before the onset of this epidemiological scenario.

The analysis suggests that possible consequences of food and nutritional insecurity in Brazil include (directly or indirectly) negative effects on health and quality of life. The situation worsens when considering social groups that have not yet experienced a more solid inclusion process in society to be achieved by public policies, such as: remnants of quilombolas, indigenous populations, traditional communities such as terreiro people, pasture funds, breakers coconut farms, seafood restaurants, artisanal fishermen and the homeless population, among many other people and groups that make up Brazilian society. It is also worth considering the elderly (with difficulties in physically accessing food outlets), whether in their homes or institutionalized.

Therefore, the emergence and spread of the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus brings more intensity to the problems that had already been accumulating with regard to Food and Nutritional Security for everyone, especially the most vulnerable in social, economic and health terms, signaling a possible increase in hunger situations.

Public Policy Lessons

After analyzing official documents on decrees and laws related to combating COVID-19 at the state and federal level, Ribeiro-Silva et al. (2020) realized that there is a real situation worsened by the health crisis and the social distancing measures that were applied in Brazil, resulting in profound economic impacts on income and employment conditions. If this scenario continues, according to the authors, many Brazilians could die for lack of food. Thus, when this situation is revealed, there is a need for solutions that place life and human dignity at the center of public decisions and policies, safeguarding human rights. In other words, in the case of the Human Right to Adequate Food, it means ensuring that all people, especially the most vulnerable, have access to adequate and healthy food to meet the requirements of social distancing.

In this sense, the challenge is to ensure different mechanisms that contribute to guaranteeing the Human Right to Adequate Food, enhancing different food supply strategies. Therefore, the strengthening of the Food Acquisition Program (notably the Direct Purchase and Purchase with Simultaneous Donation modalities) and the continued operationalization of the National School Meal Program (adjusted to the health demands of COVID-19) are some of the measures that can be quickly activated. Furthermore, extraordinary social protection policies, such as the distribution of family farming, adapted to the necessary health care to reduce the risk of dissemination of SARS-CoV-2, are of paramount importance as a specific strategy to mitigate hunger among several vulnerable groups in the country. Brazil.

Ribeiro-Silva et al. (2020) also recommend including food education initiatives that guide and encourage the adoption/maintenance of healthy eating habits for the entire family, including the always opportune encouragement of exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months as a safe and essential nutritional practice for children under 6 months of age. 2 years – considering health precautionary measures. Finally, the authors highlight the importance of strengthening the surveillance and monitoring system for the spread of the virus, with a view to defining aligned strategies to combat COVID-19.

References

RIBEIRO-SILVA, Rita de Cássia et al. Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for food and nutritional security in Brazil. Science & Public Health , v. 25, p. 3421-3430, 2020.