COVID-19 highlights need to boost resilience of Africa’s rural poor

The current COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to contain it are significantly impacting countries around the world, regardless of their level of income or economic development. Apart from the novel coronavirus’ tragic toll in terms of human health and lives lost, government-imposed rules and restrictions on movement and assembly have upended work and livelihood activities for billions of people, causing serious strain on budgets and household resources, seriously impacting people’s ability to care for and nourish themselves and their families. These negative effects can be immediate and often catastrophic for people who have few resources to fall back on in hard times — such as Africa’s estimated 33 million smallholder farming families.Non-PRIFPRI5; CRP4; Capacity Strengthening; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; HarvestPlusHarvestPlus; A4NHCGIAR Research Programs on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH