The ECOWAS Parliament is meeting in Guinea Bissau to discuss the way forward, as it concerns the food crisis that has hit the region during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA) said over 17 million people in the Sahel and West Africa (7.1 million in Nigeria alone) need food and nutritional assistance during the pandemic.
It adds that combined impact of violent insecurity and COVID-19 could put more than 50 million other people across the region at risk of food and nutrition crisis. The lawmakers’ delocalised meeting with the theme ” Agricultural Production and Food Security in ECOWAS region under Covid-19 pandemic” is scheduled to begin today, Tuesday November 10 in Bissau, Guinea Bissau.
Speaker ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Mohammed Tunis, who led a delegation of members of the Parliament for a courtesy visit to the President of Guinea Bissau, Umaro Embalo, said Guinea Bissau was chosen for the meeting because it is believed to be stable.
“As you all are aware, Covid-19 has had very negative effects on food production, which is threatening food security in the region. So, we will have experts on Covid-19 and also experts from the Commission on agriculture that will explain to all of us especially for the benefit of the People of Guinea Bissau where we are as a region regarding food security and where we are regarding the fight against Covid-19.
“We will have the Director General of the West African Health Organization (WAHO) who is championing the fight against Covid-19 and other stakeholders who will present their expertise on behalf of the people of West Africa,” Tunis said.
The effects of the collapse in global commodity prices, currency depreciations, rising costs of consumer goods and disruptions to supply chains are rippling across the region.