Amidst the receding numbers of COVID-19 cases in Europe, the European Commission is working on a strategy to reopen tourism business. The Commission is planning to work out a modality that will ensure safety measures as a way to sustain the plan.

The coronavirus pandemic has compelled European governments to initiate lockdowns that have nearly crippled the tourism sector of its economy. The EU leaders are counting on the receding number of cases to open as many sectors as possible. But it is a herculean task that requires an unusual strategy in order to avoid a second wave of the pandemic infection.

The Commission is looking at a three-phase approach to reopening the borders connecting member states. Considering the risk of infection, Europe’s disease control agency (ECDC) will be drafted to keep a list of areas with low infection rate. The idea is to use the circulation rate to determine if the “blanket quarantine measures” within Schengen can be scrapped.

As part of the strategy, member states will be required to enjoy some measure of freedom based on the non-discrimination on nationality rules. That means every EU citizen will enjoy the right of movement granted to a particular state.

With some European countries already in economic straits, the Commission appears determined to minimize as much as possible the impact of the pandemic on member states.

Tourism is a major source of revenue to EU nations and has been dampened by the safety restrictions aimed at curtailing the outbreak. The statement released by the Commission said the pandemic will cost the global tourism industry up to 400 billion euros this year.

Part of the goal of the EU Commission is to map out EU members and regions that will be most affected by the plunge, using the data from the Joint Research Center (JRC).

While there is unison between member states, challenges abound in critical areas that may jeopardize the progress that have been made so far in the fight against coronavirus. The areas include hygiene, social-distancing and transport services. The draft is aiming for a coordinated approach that prohibits discrimination against member states just as it is applicable in other areas.

According to the document, the hygiene, transport and social-distancing measures should be risk-based and proportionate.

“General principles will support prioritizing the resumption of transport services for all nodes. It should be limited in scope and duration to what is necessary to protect public health,” the document said.

The JRC interactive map will contain needed travel information which will include the latest border controls, measures and travel conditions. Travelers will be expected to consult the map to help them plan their journey efficiently, deciding whether to make a trip or not.

However, that poses another challenge that the Commission has made decisions on – flight cancellation and the use of vouchers. The draft made provision for refund in case of cancellation under the heading; “Preserving consumer protection while addressing the issue of reimbursement claims.”

The EU’s law said a total refund will be made to a passenger in the case of cancellation of flights. Though the rule offers room for vouchers, it is up to the passenger to decide whether or not to accept it.

Some Members of European Parliament (MEP) and most of the member states are asking that the Commission propose a temporary waiver for that tenet in order to help travel companies preserve liquidity and offer coupons instead.

But the EU executive said there must be a refund to serve as de facto safety net for passengers though the guidelines will suggest a common rulebook for vouchers so that companies can try to make them as attractive as possible.

Part of the common rulebook will include insolvency protection, transferability options and a guarantee that they will be valid for a cash refund at the end of a one-year expiry date. And as part of the measures, the Commission said that protection against company bankruptcies should be organized on national level.

“This will strengthen European citizens’ confidence on which the transport, travel and tourism industry should re-build their recovery,” the draft said.

The greatest fear however, remains that attempts to open the tourism sector will enable the spread of the crisis. With so many states in Europe still struggling to contain the pandemic, it will be a risk that may cost more than the EU Commission is trying to gain.

The impact of COVID-19 on food distribution is gradually taking its toll on farmers, traders and consumers. In Nigerian markets, especially those in the South-Eastern part of the country, the prices of staple food continue to change. The problem here is that the prices of agricultural produce cultivated within a state are ridiculously low, while that of those “imported” from other states are high. That is not the only problem. There is scarcity of some staple foods that are not cultivated within the state.

In Enugu local markets, vegetables such as bitterleaf, spinach, ugu and other ones cultivated within the state are very cheap and in abundance. The price of grains like rice, beans, maize, bambara seed (okpa), among others that come from other states have shot up. Some favourable varieties of beans and okpa seeds are no longer found in the market; the situation is currently more like “making do with what is available”. Fruits are also expensive; and so are many other food items that are not cultivated within Enugu State.

It is quite disheartening that while there is scarcity of some staple foods, there is wastage of others. For instance, there were viral photographs that showed heaps of rotten mangos dumped by roadsides in Benue State. The person that posted these pictures explained that people dumped those fruits because they saw no buyers. There were also video clips that showed that rice millers in Benue State have lots of paddy rice, which they will not mill because they didn’t have demands. This is similar to a speculation that farmers in Ebonyi State are lamenting that their farm produce is wasting because nobody buys from them. Because of the shortage or lack of demand, these farmers either sell at very low prices or watch their sweats go to waste. Funny enough, most of them didn’t even see who to sell to at that low price.

This calls to mind the fact that COVID-19 is creating an imbalance in food production and consumption.

But it will be wrong to blame only COVID-19 for this. It should be remembered that the lockdown did not affect movement of essential goods, one of which is food. This makes one wonder why food should be scarce when farmers have agricultural produce that will go round, at least to some extent.

It may be presumed that traders do not want to move in search of goods, or that farmers have withdrawn into the hinterland all in a bid to avoid COVID-19. But from all indications, COVID-19 may be ravaging the land, but it has not stopped people from searching for income and food. So, COVID-19 is not the direct cause of this simultaneous scarcity and wastage.

A little inquiry from the traders revealed that security agents are the causes of food scarcity in different parts of the country. They set up many roadblocks in order to discourage interstate travel, to ensure the observation of lockdown order, and to extort money from farmers and traders. Sometimes these security personnel harass traders and farmers to the extent that they make their journeys unbearable. The thing there is that a lot of traders are weary of getting near their state borders while those that do, sell at exorbitant prices in order to make up for the stress of the journey and the money spent on bribing the officials.

From what is going on now, if nothing is done immediately to control the situation, the country will be thrown into a food crisis in the nearest future. As planting season has arrived, many farmers should have started planting for the year but a lot of them are yet to sell off the ones they cultivated. And from what I know, most of these farmers store their produce in their farms: they move their crops directly from their farms to the market, or, the traders come to their farms to buy and move them. This means that these farmers will not have the morale to plant right now (because the ones they planted are wasting) and they may not be able to utilise their farms (because old produce is still there).

In addition to these, these farmers need money to purchase seeds, chemicals and fertilisers as well as to hire labourers and machinery. Their only source of income is wasting right before them and they are powerless to stop it. This is poverty staring these people right in the face and they can’t help it. This will not only affect the farmers, but also the people that depend on their produce for their livelihood. Who knows what will happen if these farmers do not plant this year.

It should be understood that no state in this federation is self-sufficient in food production. This is why the movement of food items should not be disrupted by corrupt security officials. The concerned authorities need to look into this; people should not starve because some officials want to reap out of the pandemic. They are throwing the country into an avoidable food crisis.