Hanoi (VNA) – The ASEANPost on May 11 published an article titled “Building food security during thepandemic”, calling on the internationalcommunity to act immediately to keep food supply chains operating.

The article spotlighted urgent measuresthat countries need to take to ensure food security amid the COVID-19 pandemic,which is seriously affecting agriculture and food processing.

Governments of countries, especially underdeveloped nations, should providecash transfers and safe food distribution channels to ensure that vulnerablecitizens are protected, it said.

Policymakers need to focus on clearing logistics bottlenecks in bothdomestic and international value chains so that food can move freely betweenand within countries, it added.

The article also underlined the necessity to apply technological solutions to agricultural productionand implement self-sufficiency policy to reduce countries’ reliance on foodimports.

At the global level, policymakers must implementfour types of action, including increasing funding for food-relief andsocial-protection measures in poor countries, investing in local agriculturalproduction, alleviating disruptions to global food and agricultural producesupply chains by supporting regional and local logistics hubs, and encouragingthe private sector to fund agro-processing and agri-tech companies, it said.

The article noted that resources should be channelled rapidly toward investmentopportunities that are emerging as a result of the pandemic, especially forinnovative value-chain solutions.

Top ofFormIt said these solutions should be implementedrapidly if the humankind want to prevent a catastrophic food crisis in developingcountries./.