Professor Hettie Schönfeldt, holder of a  Department of Science and Technology (DST)/National Research Foundation (NRF) South African Research Chairs Initiative chair (SARChl) in the National Development Plan Priority Area of Nutrition and Food Security which is hosted in the Department of Animal Science participated as representative of the University of Pretoria at the recent virtual African Development Bank Community of Practice on Agriculture and COVID-19 seminar (18 & 19 May 2020). She facilitated a brainstorming session on Building Resilience in Food Systems and Agricultural Value Chains: Agricultural Policy Responses to COVID-19 in Africa with researchers from Singapore, Mauritius, Malawi, Nigeria and Australia.

The outbreak of COVID-19 is called a black swan phenomenon, of which the outbreak of COVID-19 is a prime example: entirely unexpected, and completely unpredictable. Monotonous diets which mainly include inexpensive, energy-dense, nutrient-poor (staple) foods further aggravate the emerging epidemic of obesity and chronic diseases. Undernourished people have weaker immune systems and may be at a greater risk of severe illness due to the virus.”