The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Water-Health-Food-Economy Nexus and Sustainable Development in Developing Countries

Abstract

The SARS-Cov-2 pandemic has raised important concerns regarding sustainable development. With vaccines still on trial and lack of effective treatment, countries must ensure adequate measures are in place to protect and cushion the impact of the virus. In this short review, I examine the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). I aim to achieve this by looking at how non-pharmaceutical measures like lockdown, impacts negatively on the water-health-food-economy nexus, and how it affects the realization of the SDGs. The nexus between water, food, health, and economy especially in the context of the pandemic has a strong relationship that will undermine sustainable development. I argue that a large number of people from Sub-Saharan Africa have largely been marginalized economically and socially and that despite having low numbers of positive cases, the region will significantly be impacted due to underlying issues relating to poverty, hunger, poor education and health systems. Although I project to see a relatively improved health sector due to the funds injected into the sector to curtail the pandemic, food-water-economy will drastically impact on sustainable development in the region. There is therefore the need to address the issue by adopting a measure that looks at the nexus between food, water, health, and economy. The root problem underlying the inequity in the health, water food and economic sectors, exposed by the pandemic must be addressed, not just to prepare for another pandemic but to care for people in resource-poor settings in non-pandemic times and ensure sustainable development.