The COVID-19 pandemic could threaten food security across the entire world, if urgent action is not taken.  

That’s prompted the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to launch a new COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme, which aims to mitigate the immediate impacts of the pandemic while also strengthening food systems and livelihoods in the long-term.  

In this interview, FAO’s Charlotta Lomas speaks to the agency’s Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol, who describes what the plan entails, and why a global response is badly needed.