The COVID-19 outbreak has had profound impacts on everyday life and caused great concern about what lies ahead. The farm and food sectors have already been strongly affected and there is much more to come.

Demand for oilseeds in China are expected to rise in 2020-21 as the country’s hog and sow herds begin to recover from the impact of African swine fever, according to a March 19 Global Agricultural Information Network report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Honeybees are under threat globally. These important pollinators are affected by issues of nutrition, habitat loss, pesticides, a changing climate, pathogens and an economic system that lacks ecological accountability.

Trade disruptions, debt vulnerabilities and a limited scope for monetary policy maneuvers threaten a slew of African economies as the coronavirus pandemic arrives on the continent.

The pandemic will strengthen the state and reinforce nationalism. Governments of all types will adopt emergency measures to manage the crisis, and many will be loath to relinquish these new powers when the crisis is over.

Pandemics are the inevitable attendants of economic progress.