On July 31, 2020, researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) published a paper entitled “COVID-19 risks to global food security” in Science Magazine. The policy forum article tackles how the COVID-19 pandemic has led to economic fallout and disruptions to the food supply chain, and discusses critical responses that policy-makers should consider to prevent this global health crisis from becoming a global food crisis.

Researchers at the International Potato Center (CIP) published a paper in Food Security entitled “Resilient agri-food systems for nutrition amidst COVID-19: evidence and lessons from food-based approaches to overcome micronutrient deficiency and rebuild livelihoods after crises”. Amidst the uncertainty due to COVID-19 pandemic, the paper stated that production and market diversification strategies should be prioritized in order to protect food and nutrition security of the world's poor.

On July 26, 2020, AFP reported that Norway’s Arctic archipelago Svalbard, which is located about 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole, recorded it’s highest-ever temperature of 21.7 degrees on the 25th of July. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a long-term seed storage facility established by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, is located in Svalbard Islands and has been storing seeds from around the world since 2008. The climatic conditions that led to a record high temperature this time would affect the maintenance of storage and could threaten the agrobiological base of crop diversity.

The Lancet published a paper “Fertility, mortality, migration, and population scenario for 195 countries and territories from 2017 to 2100: a forecasting analysis for the global burden of disease study” with a lower world population forecast than the estimate of the United Nations. In the reference scenario, the world population was projected to peak at 9.73 billion in 2064 and decline to 8.79 billion (6.83-1.8 billion) in 2100 based on novel methods for forecasting mortality, fertility, migration and population.

The World Economic Forum published a report “Nature Risk Rising: Why the crisis engulfing nature matters for business and the economy” in January 2020. Five factors, including land use change, have contributed to 90% of natural loss over the last 50 years. All businesses depend directly or indirectly on natural capital and ecosystem services. Estimates show that more than half of the world's total GDP worth $44 trillion of economic value is dependent on nature and its services, and is therefore at risk from nature loss.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) Bulletin Monthly Report in July 2020, wheat export prices continued to decline in June, and international rice prices decreased for the first time this year. In contrast, the prices of maize which have been on a downtrend for the past few months, have turned upward due to strong global demand.

International trade has been significantly affected by the border blockade caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, in developing countries, which are commodity exporters of agricultural products, lockdown measures imposed by governments have caused severe disruption to supply chains. Even in Kenya, where foreign currency income is dependent on export crops such as tea, fruits and vegetables, a sharp decline in demand in Europe and the Middle East in March 2020 and a rise in freight costs due to a decrease in passenger flights severely hit the agricultural sector. In the case of Kenya, there are reports that exports of some commodities such as tea and fruits withstood the coronavirus shock and are recovering.

In July 2020, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) published a report “Preventing the next pandemic — Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission”. The report identifies the key anthropogenic drivers for the emergence of zoonoses including increasing demand for animal proteins, unsustainable and intensive agriculture, exploitation of wildlife resources, and climate change.

The World Bank released a report “Thailand Economic Monitor, June 2020: Thailand in the Time of COVID-19”. The shock of the new coronavirus that hit Thailand in early 2020 highlighted the vulnerabilities of the Thai economy driven by a sharp deterioration in global and domestic demand.