COVID-19 pandemic impacts on food security in Central and West Asia: key issues and strategic options
This paper assesses how the collective pathway toward food security in Central and West Asia has transformed due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and recommends post-pandemic measures for ensuring long-term food security. The rapid spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Central and West Asia has prompted individual governments to quickly implement disease containment and other COVID-19 response measures. These courses of action have resulted in reduced foreign remittances, declining household incomes, rising rates of unemployment, and disruptions in agricultural supply chains, which created severe impacts on the region’s food security situation. The Asian Development Bank offers a list of strategic options to enhance the region’s agricultural productivity and competitiveness as it moves toward its food secure future, post-COVID-19.
