Covid-19 starves the South

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Covid-19 starves the South

 

Jerry lost everything. All he has left is a hook and a line to feed his family. Within a few days, the Central African fell into extreme poverty, like most of his neighbors. The Covid-19. But not the health crisis: the Central African Republic has had only 62 deaths from covid since February, 4800 positive cases and no wave in sight. The country has indeed been hit hard by covid but indirectly, victim of its socio-economic impacts. More than half of its population is suffering acute hunger. Other factors such as the activism of armed groups or population displacement have created the food crisis. But covid is making it much worse, as it is the case in all developing countries: the World Bank predicts that 150 million people will fall into extreme poverty due to the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic in the first wave alone. For the first time in almost a quarter of a century, extreme poverty will increase in the world.

 

Reportage in Central Africa with notably the World Food Program, 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.

 

Report by Laurent Weyl and Cécile Bontron