What Does Panic Buying Reflect About Our Society?
After having witnessed thousands of people stampede through their local supermarkets amid COVID-19’s outbreak, stripping aisles bare whilst willingly queuing in line for hours, one might question how such a state of panic arose particularly within advanced societies. Some may claim
Health Illiteracy – Why a Silent Epidemic Needs a “One Health” Approach
Health illiteracy haunts the COVID-19 response in most of the Western democracies. Health illiteracy is defined as the inability to comprehend and use medical information that can affect access to and use of the health-care system. Conversely, health literacy refers
How Will The Pandemic Impact Positive Peace?
The COVID-19 pandemic will interact with Positive Peace in complex and systemic ways. The pandemic and its subsequent economic crises are likely to radically change the way some countries operate. The long-term responses of countries to COVID-19 will be shaped by
Keeping Farmers Safe and Business Running: One Coop’s Pandemic Response
When Donald Delgado took the helm of UNICAFEC last November, the coffee cooperative was at a crossroads. Since its founding in 2001, the cooperative had been led by one man, Alfredo Alarcón, and his sudden death left a hole in
What COVID-19 Means for Investment in Agriculture
FAO Investment Centre Director Mohamed Manssouri speaks about the impacts of COVID-19 on investment in agriculture and smallholder farmers, illustrating what his organization is currently implementing to offset these impacts. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented disruption to our agriculture and
E-Mobility as a Case Study for Greener, More Resilient Economies
The global onset of COVID-19 has drastically affected all of us — through the fabric of our daily lives, and also through its reverberations in economic systems on local and global scales. Green, innovative, agile and scalable solutions are being
COVID-19 Heightens Need for CFS Framework for Action in Protracted Crises to Prevent Global Food Emergency
According to the 2020 Global Report on Food Crises, the number of people experiencing acute food insecurity reached a record high of 135 million in 2019, up from 108 million in 2016. And this trend is expected to increase dramatically
How COVID-19 Threatens People Living in Poverty in India
Water touches everything and this pandemic is no exception. Safe water and improved sanitation at home are more than a convenience. They can save lives. There are significant ramifications on the health and survival of households particularly in impoverished communities
Equality in a post-pandemic era: gender, COVID-19, agriculture and climate change
Combined with climate change, pandemics threaten to slow down or reverse progress in gender equality, further threatening food, income, and nutrition security. COVID-19 is intensifying climate change impacts, adding extra pressure to food systems, livelihoods, and health. Women are especially affected by this added
“Making It Work”: Female Entrepreneurs Surviving COVID-19
Whilst some enterprises are on the edge of closing during COVID-19, others have been able to adapt and manage. But what sets them apart? It all comes down to optimism. In the US and Britain, governments have opened programmes to provide
What I Wish the World Knew About Why Serbia Is Protesting
Or How Not to Manage the Pandemic Crisis Since abruptly lifting lockdown restrictions in early May, the Serbian government has held the election and has authorized an international tennis tournament as well as a football cup final with up to 25,000
Not All Evil Comes to Harm: Could the Pandemic Crisis Be an Opportunity for a Sustainable Reboot?
The Covid-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented health and economic crisis, holding at the same time profound lessons that can help us set a new global equilibrium if we make sustainability core to our planning for the reboot. It may appear