In Colombia, on 6 May, the national government declared a State of Health Emergency and subsequently a State of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency, thus deploying a series of response measures to support different sectors [1]. Some of the measures related to the food system include monetary transfers to the most vulnerable sectors of the population [2], flexibility in the payment of bank credit quotas, tax relief aimed mainly at actors in the agricultural and tourism sectors, and the suspension of tariffs for importers of agricultural products such as sorghum, maize and soya [3]. In addition, at the regional level, programmes were deployed for direct food delivery, monitoring of prices of basic products in the family basket, food barter days [4], coordination tables for food supply and security [5] , and strategies for purchasing local products that were use, among others, in food delivery and school feeding programmes.

However, large losses were reported in some food-producing sectors, mainly small producers, due to the effects of the decline in demand with the closure of restaurants, universities, schools and other consumption centres. This added to difficulties in obtaining transport and labour and the closure of mobile markets and galleries.

Previously, since March, the country has been in compulsory quarantine and at the beginning of a new normality based on virtuality. As in the rest of the world, the quarantine measures required the use of virtual platforms for different social dynamics such as labor relations, non-priority medical care, purchase and sale of products and food, education, among others. This increased the demand for Internet access and the development or improvement, by companies and organizations, of their digital channels to offer their products or services. The integration of technology with the field, presents, among other things, the opportunity to virtualize the relationship between production and trade, reducing the number of intermediaries in the traditional model, however, this in turn increases the gaps in access to these services and inequity.

These measures, as noted, are immediate responses to urgent situations of food access and availability, palliative solutions to existing and long-term problems that require structural changes from one end of the food chain to the other, mainly the most vulnerable sectors: rural families and lower-income urban consumers.

Digitalization is one of the responses throughout the food system. A process that includes "digital illiterates" in the countryside and in the city so that they can access new markets and their tools is a door to great opportunities to ensure food security in all areas. For this it is necessary to provide better connectivity and infrastructure conditions to rural territories, which also includes the construction or recovery of tertiary roads. This would generate employment, increase the competitiveness of the countryside and allow other State services to arrive. To speak of connectivity and infrastructure is also to speak of markets, marketing circuits, logistics and transport.

The moment is crucial, in Colombia the new governments, product of recent elections, are beginning to present their plans and programs for the next 3 years. It is an opportunity to be interested in knowing in depth the local food systems from the functional conception of the territory, connecting the urban and the rural and that this is included in these new development plans with a lens of innovation so that the territories have tools to face the new reality. It is time for the municipalities and departments to rethink the way in which food is conceived, to see its potential as an engine of social and economic development, to map the characteristics of their territories and food supply systems, to identify weaknesses and to make adjustments.

The crisis generated by COVID-19 joins others already in existence such as the effects of climate change, increasing migration and unemployment that have long threatened the food security of the entire population of the country.

See also: Covid-19 & Sécurité alimentaire | En Colombie, la crise sanitaire exacerbe les inégalités entre petits et grands producteurs. Nadine ANDRIEU. 

[1] El Espectador. Marzo 18, 2020. Gobierno lanza paquete de medidas económicas para hacer frente al coronavirus. Elespectador.com.  Disponible en: https://www.elespectador.com/coronavirus/gobierno-lanza-paquete-de-medidas-economicas-para-hacer-frente-al-coronavirus-articulo-909892/

[2] Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público. Decreto 659, mayo 13,202 "Por el cual se entrega una transferencia monetaria no condicionada, adicional y extraordinaria en favor de los beneficiarios de los programas Familias en Acción, Protección Social al Adulto Mayor - Colombia Mayor y Jóvenes en Acción y se dictan otras disposiciones en el marco del Estado de Emergencia Económica, Social y Ecológica"  Disponible en: https://dapre.presidencia.gov.co/normativa/normativa/DECRETO%20659%20DEL%2013%20DE%20MAYO%20DE%202020.pdf

[3] Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo. Decreto 523, 7 abril 2020 “Por el cual se modifica parcialmente el arancel de aduanas en relación con la importación de materias primas como el maíz amarillo duro, el sorgo, la soya y la torta de soya”. Disponible en: https://dapre.presidencia.gov.co/normativa/normativa/DECRETO%20523%20DEL%207%20DE%20ABRIL%20DE%202020.pdf

[4] Gobernación Del Cauca. Abril 23, 2020. El trueque, una herramienta solidaria en tiempos de cuarentena. Disponible en: https://www.cauca.gov.co/Prensa/SaladePrensa/Paginas/El-trueque-una-herramienta-solidaria-en-tiempos-de-cuarentena.aspx

[5] CONtexto ganadero. Abril 15,2020.  Cundinamarca crea Mesa para el Abastecimiento y la Seguridad Alimentaria. Contextoganadero.com. Disponible en:  https://www.contextoganadero.com/regiones/cundinamarca-crea-mesa-para-el-abastecimiento-y-la-seguridad-alimentaria