Every year, some nine million people worldwide – equivalent to the population of Austria – die of hunger or hunger-related diseases. That is tragic enough, but COVID-19’s disruption of food supply chains risks doubling this number in 2020.This is the hidden cost of the coronavirus pandemic, and it will fall on the poorest and most vulnerable.

The word “migration” conjures images of war, natural disaster, and severe economic distress. All are important reasons why people seek refuge far from home. But the single most powerful driver of migration may well be food – or, rather, the lack of it.As of 2017, some 821 million people worldwide – about one in every nine – faced chronic food deprivation.