Cash-for-work and food-for-work programmes’ role in household resilience to food insecurity in southern Ethiopia

Gezahegn, Almaz Meseret

doi:10.1080/09614524.2020.1747398

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Interviews highlighted how some farmers struggled to hire labour because of lower farm income resulting from reduced agricultural activity, production and markets. Food, or food and cash for work schemes, may provide safety net opportunities for both farmers and labourers [56]. Such a system can be further adapted to allow triple benefits [21] by employing the labourers beyond planting and harvesting and engaging them in constructing infrastructure, such as food storage and water storage facilities to improve agriculture resilience under COVID-19, climate or similar shocks.…”

Section: Employment and Job Security In Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of COVID-19 on Diverse Farm Systems in Tanzania and South Africa

et al. 2021

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Emerging information on the interactions between the COVID-19 pandemic and global food systems have highlighted how the pandemic is accentuating food crises across Africa. Less clear, however, are how the impacts differ between farming systems. Drawing on 50 key informant interviews with farmers, village leaders and extension officers in South Africa and Tanzania, we identify the effects of COVID-19 and associated measures to curb the spread of the disease on farming production systems, the coping mechanisms adopted by farmers, and explore their longer-term plans for adaptation. We focus on a diverse range of production systems, from small-scale mixed farming systems in Tanzania to large-scale corporate farms in South Africa. Our findings highlight how COVID-19 restrictions have interrupted the supply chains of agricultural inputs and commodities, increasing the storage time for produce, decreasing income and purchasing power, and reducing labour availability. Farmers’ responses were heterogeneous, with highly diverse small-scale farming systems and those less engaged with international markets least affected by the associated COVID-19 measures. Large-scale farmers were most able to access capital to buffer short-term impacts, whereas smaller-scale farms shared labour, diversified to subsistence produce and sold assets. However, compounded shocks, such as recent extreme climate events, limited the available coping options, particularly for smaller-scale and emerging farmers. The study highlights the need to understand the characteristics of farm systems to better equip and support farmers, particularly in contexts of uncertainty. We propose that policy actions should focus on (i) providing temporary relief and social support and protection to financially vulnerable stakeholders, (ii) job assurance for farmworkers and engaging an alternative workforce in farming, (iii) investing in farming infrastructure, such as storage facilities, digital communication tools and extension services, and (iv) supporting diversified agroecological farming systems.

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Section: Employment and Job Security In Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of COVID-19 on Diverse Farm Systems in Tanzania and South Africa

et al. 2021

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“…Food insecurity is caused by complex, multiple interplay of numerous factors including households’ entitlement failure and coping strategies, droughts and seasonal rain failure, social conflicts, chronic poverty, land fragmentation, resource degradation, limited government capacity and farm input application, population pressure, low non-farm employment and low income (Abebe, 2018, 2020; Rashid and Dorosh, 2012). However, the increasing frequency of environmental risks and associated factors affect poor farmers and women.…”

Section: Ethiopia’s Contemporary Food Insecurity Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Ethiopian government and development partners in response designed different programmes, such as cash-for-work and food-for-work, that are underway in rural areas and that are considered as a key component of the government’s food security strategy. These strategies have generated both positive acclaim and robust criticisms (Abebe, 2020). While the programmes save lives and contribute to avert famine, the problem of food security persists at an alarming rate in different parts of the country (FAO, 2016; Pankhurst et al, 2013; UNICEF, 2017a).…”

Section: Conclusion and Policy Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Debate on the linkages between large-scale agriculture and farmers food security: Examples from Ethiopia

Gezahegn

2021

Human Geography

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This article critically contributes to the debate on private large-scale agriculture for export crop production as a means to address the problem of food security in Ethiopia. The reviewed literature was identified by combining relevant keywords. The consumer price index and rainfall pattern, food gaps and affected population were calculated and presented using Microsoft Excel software. The paper argues that although private large-scale agriculture has opportunities in terms of employment generation, income and national-level growth, it poses risks to small-scale farmers’ food security. Loss of access to agricultural land and exposure to market risks endanger their food and livelihood security. The analysis suggests that both large-scale and small-scale agriculture is not a viable means to effectively reduce Ethiopia’s complex food insecurity and hunger. Improving food production for local consumption through transforming small-scale farms to medium-sized labour-intensive farms coupled with investment in manufacturing and building social protection through the adoption of well-intentioned state-directed development interventions that care about the well-being of individuals and households is needed.

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“…Interviews highlighted how some farmers struggled to hire labour because of lower farm income resulting from reduced agricultural activity, production, and markets. Food, or food and cash for work schemes, may provide safety net opportunities for both farmers and labourers [42]. Such a system can be further adapted to allow triple benefits (Amjath-Babu et al 2020) by employing the labourers beyond planting and harvesting and engaging them in constructing infrastructure such as food storage and water storage facilities to improve agriculture resilience under COVID-19, climate, or similar shocks.…”

Section: Employment and Job Security In Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of COVID-19 on Diverse Farm Systems in Tanzania and South Africa

Tripathi¹,

Smith²,

Sait³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Emerging information on the interactions between the COVID-19 pandemic and global food systems has highlighted how the pandemic is accentuating food crises across Africa. Less clear, however, are how the impacts differ between farming systems. Drawing on 50 key informant interviews with farmers, village leaders and extension officers, in South Africa and Tanzania, we identify the effects of COVID-19 and associated measures to curb the spread of the disease on farming production systems, the coping mechanisms adopted by farmers, and explore their longer-term plans for adaptation. We focus on a diverse range of production systems, from small-scale mixed farming systems in Tanzania, to large-scale corporate farms in South Africa. Our findings highlight how COVID-19 restrictions have interrupted the supply chains of agricultural inputs and commodities, increasing the storage time for produce, decreasing income and purchasing power, and reducing labour availability. Farmers’ responses were heterogeneous, with highly diverse small-scale farming systems and those less engaged with international markets least affected by the associated COVID-19 measures. Large-scale farmers were most able to access capital to buffer short-term impacts, whereas smaller-scale farms shared labour, diversified to subsistence produce and sold assets. However, compounded shocks, such as recent extreme climate events, limited the available coping options, particularly for smaller-scale and emerging farmers. The study highlights the need to understand the characteristics of farm systems to better equip and support farmers, particularly in contexts of uncertainty. We propose that policy actions should focus on (i) providing temporary relief and social support and protection to financially vulnerable stakeholders, (ii) job assurance for farmworkers, and engaging an alternative workforce in farming, (iii) investing in farming infrastructure, such as storage facilities, digital communication tools, and extension services, and iv) supporting diversified agroecological farming systems.

show abstract

Cash-for-work and food-for-work programmes’ role in household resilience to food insecurity in southern Ethiopia

Cited by 16 publications

References 6 publications

Impacts of COVID-19 on Diverse Farm Systems in Tanzania and South Africa

Impacts of COVID-19 on Diverse Farm Systems in Tanzania and South Africa

Debate on the linkages between large-scale agriculture and farmers food security: Examples from Ethiopia

Impacts of COVID-19 on Diverse Farm Systems in Tanzania and South Africa

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