A year ago, we still could not suspect the seriousness of the crisis that was upon us. The response to the pandemic has unleashed an unprecedented mobilization of resources that includes stimulus packages worth close to 10 trillion euros globally. Of these, just over 6% correspond to social protection measures that have cushioned the impact on the right to food of large population groups, whose incomes have decreased or disappeared, and have allowed the flows of food systems to be maintained quite stable. The latest estimates indicate that, as a result of COVID-19, in 2020 the world economy shrank by 4.3%, poverty increased --by nearly 90 million people-- and hunger increased, with 130 million more people undernourished. 

This week is the 47th plenary session of the World Committee on Food Security, initially scheduled for October 2020. As with many other activities, the pandemic forced a change of date and entered its agenda. A central point of the plenary will be the discussion, eventual approval and adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition, an instrument that will provide policy guidance for a transition towards more sustainable and inclusive food systems. In parallel, debates will be opened with an eye on a way out of the crisis, exploring solutions that consider gender equity and the needs of small producers and the groups hardest hit by it. These discussions will address the protection of the human right to adequate food for a sustainable food system. 

The quality and power of the response will be decisive in reducing the suffering caused by the crisis. On this occasion, the short-term response has been much more powerful than in previous crises, and we must congratulate ourselves on that. But, in addition, we need a response that allows rapid reduction of poverty and hunger. If we do not adopt much more ambitious measures, in 2030 the population suffering from undernourishment could reach over 900 million people, returning to the levels of the end of the 20th century. 

The transformation of food systems will also occupy the attention of countries in the coming months in preparation for a world summit on the matter, scheduled for September this year and convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The crisis has shown the central role of food systems in economies and in the well-being of the population. Its environmental and social sustainability were challenges prior to the pandemic. The investments and changes necessary to ensure a better life for all present important areas of opportunity for a vigorous and sustainable recovery. 

One area that may go unnoticed by the general public, but which will be crucial in this process, is plant health. Thus, 2020 was declared the International Year of Plant Health. Plant health has shown the ability of countries to work together and has contributed in a very important way to ensuring the world's food security in the past decades. But it faces important challenges, both from the point of view of more sustainable and biodiversity-friendly solutions, as well as the impact of climate change on plant protection. This includes the spread of different pests and diseases, the greater vulnerability generated in many areas by the change in agroclimatic conditions and the stress produced in plants. 

Solving these challenges is an opportunity to come out of the crisis with force and prevent some of the most worrying risks that can put the right to food at risk for all. 

To do this, we need to mobilize the capacity to innovate and the collaboration of all stakeholders (governments, private sector, researchers, civil society ...). It is about innovating, not only technically, but also politically and socially, carrying out programs that facilitate access for all to this innovation, breaking barriers and including small producers, indigenous peoples, and eliminating gender gaps. As with the pandemic: if protection does not reach everyone, no one will be safe.