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.

A paper on increasing trends in regional heatwaves was published in Nature Communications on July 3, 2020, showing that the intensity, frequency and duration of heatwaves has changed dramatically in almost every region since 1950. In addition, on July 6, 2020, the National Geographic magazine published an article on the outbreaks of wildfires in Siberia and how heat wave has thawed the tundra.

The Sustainable Development Report 2020 contains a comprehensive analysis of the current state of each index towards achieving the SDGs, past history, forecasts for 2030, and SDG outlook amidst the COVID-19 among member countries of the United Nations. Japan ranks 17th among 166 countries.

On June 30, 2020, The Africa Report, an online website on African political and economic information, published an article “End food insecurity crisis in Africa through agricultural change”. In many African countries, COVID-19 has been blamed for the disruption of the supply chain and the vulnerability of the food system in Africa. The international community should approve and support the agricultural transformation agenda of African countries to achieve the common goal of food security.

The CGIAR system, which promotes various researches around the world in order to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on food security and regional economy, has launched the CGIAR COVID-19 Hub on June 23, 2020 to provide a wide range of information that would help countries around the world to take appropriate measures.

The World Agroforestry, JIRCAS, WeForest, Mekelle University and Oregon State University published a book entitled “Climate-smart agriculture: enhancing resilient agricultural systems, landscapes, and livelihoods in Ethiopia and beyond” focusing on the importance of sustainable land use technologies and approaches to sustain ecosystem services and livelihoods, especially in areas facing soil degradation and desertification. In a review by Jim Hallett, vice-chair of the Global Partnership for Forest and Landscape Restoration, he mentioned that although it has a narrow focus on agricultural livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly, Ethiopia, the papers present a comprehensive view of what a large proportion of humanity faces.

In June 2020, a paper "Understanding and managing connected extreme events" was published in Nature Climate Change journal. Extreme climates and their impacts are intricately intertwined through the interaction of physical factors and social circumstances. Various human interventions can exacerbate the situation through feedback loops. The occurrence of interrelated events needs to be discussed through interdisciplinary collaboration, and the authors propose approaches such as climate information provision to facilitate decision making.