In many African countries, measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 have made it harder for people to access affordable, nutritious foods, sparking warnings from aid groups that the pandemic will worsen malnutrition rates.
An estimated 73 million people in Africa are already acutely food insecure, noted Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s Regional Director for Africa in a press release last month.
“COVID-19 is exacerbating food shortages, as food imports, transportation and agricultural production have all been hampered by a combination of lockdowns, travel restrictions and physical distancing measures,” she said.
A possible global GDP loss of 5% this year could push another 147 million people into extreme poverty - more than half of them in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the D.C.-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
Mobile tech start-ups are helping people get hold of fresh food during the pandemic by tapping into the rapid rise in smartphone use across Africa. About one-third of people in sub-Saharan Africa had access to a smartphone in 2018, more than double the number four years earlier, according to the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based think tank.
Launched in October 2018 and selling surplus fruits and vegetables from local farms, Fresh in a Box found itself scrambling to add more farmers to its roster to supply the sudden rush of new customers, said co-founder Kudakwashe Musasiwa.
He added that it now distributes about 2.6 tonnes of vegetables daily from nearly 2,000 small-scale farmers to customers’ doorsteps. “With COVID-19, something incredible happened. We had to find a way of scaling up really quickly because all of a sudden our demand shot up.”