SDG target: Double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists, and fishers.
See data sources and methodology used in our 2020 reportDue to the COVID-19 economic crisis, local food markets are less busy and consumers have less money to buy food, which means small-scale farmers are selling and earning less. This is on top of climate stresses that have been getting worse in recent years as well as this year’s locust infestation in East Africa, both of which threaten their livelihoods.
In the meantime, small-scale farmers are less likely to have the flexibility to adapt, for example by adhering to new hygiene requirements or social distancing rules. To protect small-scale farmers from poverty and hunger, countries should strive to ensure food security (drawing on innovative data collection methods to target support to the most vulnerable households); maintain regional and global trade; and support domestic food production and trade.
In this report, we don’t usually track food insecurity, but this year it is important to note that, according to the United Nations, economic shocks will plunge between 83 and 132 million people into food insecurity.
