Food Supply Chains and Covid‐19: Impacts and Policy Lessons

Abstract

Summary Covid‐19 placed unprecedented stresses on food supply chains. Farms faced bottlenecks for some inputs, notably seasonal labour. Processing was disrupted by labour shortages and shutdowns, especially in meat processing. Air freight, important for fruits and vegetables, was severely disrupted. Demand from restaurants and food service collapsed, while retail food demand surged. Yet supply chains in the developed world have been remarkably resilient to date. Store shelves were replenished as stockpiling behaviour subsided and as supply chain actors expanded operating hours, increased staff, simplified the product range and found alternative suppliers. This rapid recovery was facilitated by policy decisions to reduce border waiting times, to streamline certification procedures and to relax regulations on trade in food. Importantly, policymakers have so far mostly avoided a repeat of the mistakes of the 2007–2008 food price crisis, which was greatly exacerbated by export bans. Some bottlenecks remain, and there may be new supply risks as Covid‐19 spreads in Latin America. Overall, the biggest risk to food security is not food availability, but consumers’ loss of income. Safety nets and food assistance are essential to avoid an increase in hunger, especially in developing countries.

Causal Impacts of Epidemics and Pandemics on Food Supply Chains: A Systematic Review

“…Absenteeism monitoring [69] Risk monitoring [103] Multiple sourcing [131] Information management and policy coordination with governments [12] Workforce adjustment Guidelines on seasonal workers and migrant workers [10,111] Temporary workers [80,114] Remote workforce training [93] Optimizing the familial or community workforce [87] Activities automation Mechanization and automation of activities with technology [8,56,79,101,132] Digital agronomic trainings and information through programs facilitated collaboratively with government [79] Computer-based statistical models [101] Greater reliance on automation [113] Health and Safety Protocols…”

“…New practices for food safety and social responsibility [16] Guidelines against price gouging [109] Guarantee the supplementation of food in distribution centers [136] Strong, focused country leadership [89] Food price monitoring schemes [75,78,84,109] Multiple sourcing [131] Government financial assistance for companies Government food prices surveillance; price monitor [10,89] Direct assistance to farmers [102] Crop insurance subsidies [133] Farm support payments [133] Food price subsidies [79] Cooperation and collaboration Information management and policy coordination with governments [12] Public-private cooperation [60] Adjusting marketing strategies [36] Strengthening their positions in retail and online markets [29,114] Diversification of product lines to fill alternative markets [56] Government financial assistance for companies Reduction of fees and taxes [66] Online infrastructures Food delivery app and logistics company [92] Online platforms [29,114,161] Cooperation and collaboration Link farmers and restaurants directly to food banks [58,114] Supply-side; logistics and infrastructure; management and operation…”

“…Production volume changes (production rate) or stopping production (stoppage of production) [7,10,12,38,48,56,63,66,70,72,74,75,79,80,87,100,106,108,110,113,114,129,131,134,137,142,152,162,[169][170][171][172][173][174] Stability and business continuity plans…”

“…Fluctuation in supply and demand [5,7,8,14,25,28,29,[36][37][38][39]41,[46][47][48]50,54,57,60,63,64,74,76,[78][79][80][81]84,92,93,[100][101][102][105][106][107][108]111,114,118,123,125,131,132,137,139,142,144,146,149,155,159,…”

Food Safety Economics in the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Borders were closed, whole cities were put under quarantine, and a significant percentage of the economy of the entire world ground to a halt as governments, industry, and private individuals rushed to create and enact strategies to slow the spread of the respiratory infection and prevent a soaring death toll from increasing any further (McFadden et al, 2021). Ultimately, citizens around the world were called upon to isolate themselves in their homes to avoid contracting or transmitting the virus and, as a necessary extension, non-essential businesses of all kinds shut down (Deconinck, Avery and Jackson, 2020).…”