1. What are the objectives of AUDA-NEPAD’s Environmental Sustainability Division and what are its major projects?

The Environmental Sustainability Division’s primary objective is to accelerate implementation of transformative projects towards sustainable and resilient pathways to development and coordinate interaction between natural, economic and social systems, and integrate the concept of environmental sustainability in the development cycle. The division has four priority programs (Agriculture, Food Security, Environment and Renewable Energy) and the work is centred around key developmental challenges facing the continent such as: climate change land water food and energy. Our priority areas include Land and forest and ecosystem restorations (AFR100); building climate resilience and sustainable urban places (Smart Places); sustainable agriculture productivity; Access to renewable energy to increase socio economic impacts, climate resilience and productivity and improved human wellbeing (access to clean water and sanitation, light up schools and health care facilitates and households); gender climate smart agriculture enterprise development; sustainable land and water management; land governance and territorial planning for rural transformation; food and nutrition insecurity risks management; building capacities of Member States to the implementation of multilateral environmental governance.

2. How will the current COVID-19 pandemic affect the implementation of these projects?

The division is finalising its position paper on responding to COVID-19 impacts on food and nutrition security.

The team has engaged with key stakeholders at national, regional and continental spheres and developed immediate interventions that will be delivered in the next three months, these will look at:

• The vulnerability analysis of food and nutrition security under covid19. This work will cover entire continent and will identify and visualise vulnerability hotspots. This will enhance precision of the delivery and setting up warning mechanisms and prevention of food crisis.
• The deployment of food safety nets and coordination of regional food storage facilities
• The deployment of renewable energy driven food and feed production (using vertical farming tech) and access to clean water to the communities

3. Can COVID-19 create momentum for sustainable and resilient food systems?

Africa has a population of 1. 288 billion in which 277 million are in severe food insecure, 676 million are in moderate or severe food insecure (FAO – State of Food Security and Nutrition 2019). This implies most Africans (74%) are in moderate or severe food insecure. Further the continent remains the highest prevalence of undernourishment, affecting 21% of the population.

In the past risks and threats of food and nutrition security were mainly from droughts, floods, volatility in market prices for inputs and, more commonly, for outputs as well as crop and livestock diseases (e.g. Avian flu), locust invasion and pests (fall armyworm). The current epidemic of COVID-19 outbreak has demonstrated its power to threaten both lives and livelihoods, and entire food circular economy from producers, inputs, processing, storage, distribution and consumption.

Therefore, indeed, this is the time to create momentum that food security is ground zero to achieve any meaningful development goals. Taking into consideration the sustainability aspect of food systems (land, water, energy labour, inputs, etc) and resilience aspects to mitigate and adapt externalities including climate shocks, pandemics and other related threats.