WEBINAR Urban food self-sufficiency and COVID-19

26 May 2020.  Webinar on Urban Food Self Sufficiency: lessons learned from COVID-19 responses. 

Organised by  Food Rights Alliance (FRA) and Partners with support from OXFAM, HIVOS and Trocaire.

Download Communique on Urban Food Self Sufficiency; Lessons Learnt from Experiences of COVID-19 Responses (4 pages) 

World over cities and urban areas are characterized by high population of low incomes and wage earners. With the pandemic such as COVID19 urban populations have become highly vulnerable. In developing economies such as those in Africa (Uganda inclusive) there is limited or no adequate capacities to address the challenges and shocks that disrupt the food systems such as emergencies like a pandemic of COVID19 magnitude. 

In Uganda the options of the urban dwellers to return to rural areas was curtailed by abrupt directive that cracked down public transport to mitigate the spread of the virus to the countryside. Urban people were then trapped in their informal settlements. Government in response by supplying food portions to some urban dwellers. This too has been faced with many inadequacies in terms of quantity as well as quality since some food distributed has been found to be not of human consumption standard. Although the country has not recorded any COVID19 death, the causalities of its effect related to hunger outnumber the confirmed cases in the country.

With COVID 19 to stay with us for some time as WHO predicts, building the resilience of urban centers to food insecurity and shocks that emerge out of calamities and pandemics is of paramount importance. 

1. What measures are being taken by Government at national and local level to mitigate the effects of COVID 19 on urban food systems? 
2. What measures should be taken to ensure that actions taken by government to respond to the food demands during COVID 19 response prevent the urban food system to become a source of propagation of other food related disease? 
3. What food practices need to be adopted by urban population to enhance their resilience to shocks that drive them into food insecurity even without a crisis like COVID 19? 
4. What is the role of cities and local governments in responding to the emergency linking farmers with consumers – based on the National Agricultural Product Market opportunities?

Related: 

27 May 2020.  COVID-19's Impact on Ugandan Agribusiness 

May 27, 2020 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM CEST

The Resilient Efficient Agribusiness Chains in Uganda (REACH-Uganda) project worked with partners of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands to survey many agricultural stakeholders throughout Uganda to understand how COVID-19 has affected their agribusinesses. 

The findings of this survey are presented in a new webinar: “COVID-19’s Impact on Uganda’s Private Agriculture Sector: Business Leaders Reflect on Challenges and Opportunities for Innovation.” This webinar will highlight not just the challenges presented to firms from Uganda’s private sector, but it will also serve to give voice and agency to those who have found ways to innovate in this challenging business environment.

Download the Survey Report

The webinar will attempt to answer the following questions and more:

• What are the current critical challenges faced by firms working in Uganda’s agriculture sector?
• How have Ugandan firms led in business innovation?
• What are the key gaps remaining that the agriculture business sector still needs help in bridging?