The coronavirus pandemic and food security: Evidence from Mali

Adjognon, Guigonan Serge; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; Sanoh, Aly

doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102050

Cited by 43 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(32 reference statements)

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“…Farm-based incomes were reduced for about half to three-quarters of the households who usually obtained them; with the income reduced by approximately 50%. Similar findings have been reported in multiple locations in sub-Saharan Africa ( Adjognon et al, 2021 ; Egger et al, 2021 ; Mahmud and Riley, 2021 ; Josephson et al, 2021 ), and the disruption of off-farm income observed as a general and important factor in negative food security outcomes ( Picchioni et al, 2021 ). During the midst of more stringent restrictions, up to 80% of the household surveyed reduced food intake or variety ( Fig.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Two papers report on multi-national survey datasets, which can claim nation-level representation (the RECOVR dataset – Egger et al, 2021 ; and the LSMS-ISA dataset – Josephson et al, 2021 ). Two more papers report on nationally representative datasets for single countries ( Adjognon et al, 2021 ; Amare et al, 2021 ), and the remainder report on subnational regions generally, but not entirely, within a single nation. The majority of those studies use panel datasets with pre-pandemic rounds, and make use of validated indicators of self-reported food security status to compare against the pre-pandemic counterfactual (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perceived effects of COVID-19 restrictions on smallholder farmers: Evidence from seven lower- and middle-income countries

Hammond

Siegal²,

Milner

et al. 2022

Agricultural Systems

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CONTEXT The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented global disruption and continues to wreak havoc. Dire predictions were made about the risks to smallholder farmers in lower- and middle- income, but hard data have been lacking. We present the results from 9201 interviews with smallholder farmers from seven countries. OBJECTIVE The objectives are to describe: i) how farmers perceive the key effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and containment measures on livelihoods and food security; ii) the effects on agricultural activities; iii) the coping strategies households deployed. METHODS Household surveys were conducted as part of ongoing monitoring programs during the latter half of 2020. Sites in seven countries were covered: Burundi; Kenya; Rwanda; Tanzania; Uganda; and then Vietnam and Zambia. Findings are representative of smallholder farmers across multiple districts per country. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Our results show that the effects of the COVID-19 containment measures were widespread and often perceived to be severe. Food purchase, off farm income, sale of farm produce, and access to crop inputs were all affected. In locations under more stringent restrictions during the time of the survey, up to 80% of households had to reduce food consumption or variety. Almost all households with off-farm incomes reported reductions, by half on average. A half to three-quarters of households (depending on the location) with income from farm sales reported losses compared to the pre-pandemic situation. In locations with more relaxed containment measures in place during the time of the survey, less frequent and less severe economic and food security outcomes were perceived by the respondent, with around 20% of households reporting negative outcomes. Mobility restrictions, reduced market access, crashes in sale price for agricultural goods, and soaring prices for food purchase were key factors. Sale prices generally dropped for all agricultural products in any given location, and affected not only high value perishable products, but also staple crops such as maize and cassava. Depending on the location, between 30% and 90% of the households applied coping strategies in response to the pandemic during 2020. There was an almost complete absence of official aid amongst households interviewed. SIGNIFICANCE Our results raise the thorny issue of how best to balance containment of COVID-19 against the wellbeing of the vulnerable rural population in lower- and middle-income countries. There is a risk that the buffering capacity of rural people will become exhausted. Possible policy measures to limit negative outcomes include i) tiered mobility restrictions with travel allowed for economic reasons; ii) short-term price guarantee schemes to stabilise the food system; iii) direct aid; iv) the timely re-installation of distribution channels for agricultural inputs.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived effects of COVID-19 restrictions on smallholder farmers: Evidence from seven lower- and middle-income countries

Hammond

Siegal²,

Milner

et al. 2022

Agricultural Systems

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Guangxi suffered the worst because the pandemic overlapped with its harvesting season of late-ripening citrus products. Some strict lockdown and quarantine measures cut off the traditional offline sales channels directly [ 32 ], resulting in an enormous number of overstocked produce. Anhui ranked second, with 486 pieces of information, accounting for 13.96% of the data.…”

Section: Immediate Impacts Of Covid-19: Evidence From Chama Overstocking Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In developing countries, a large subpopulation lives on agriculture and informal food markets [ 15 , 30 , 31 ]. Difficulties in sales directly threaten the livelihoods of rural, poor, and informal sector workers [ 32 ]. As estimated by the UN, an additional 83 million people, for a total of 132 million people, will experience hunger this year because of COVID-19 [ 33 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overstocked Agricultural Produce and Emergency Supply System in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Responses from China

Chen

Zhong

2021

Foods

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The spread of COVID-19 has affected not only public health but also agriculture, raising global concerns regarding the food system. As an immediate impact of COVID-19, farmers around the globe have had difficulties with sales, resulting in large amounts of overstocked agricultural products and food loss. This further threatens the livelihood of rural, poor farmers and impacts sustainable production. To provide a better understanding of the overstocking situation after the outbreak of the pandemic, this study depicts the distribution characteristics of overstocked agricultural products in China. After analyzing a nationwide data set collected from 3482 individuals/organizations by the Chinese Agri-products Marketing Association after the outbreak of the pandemic, we found that some of the initial prevention and control measures disrupted sales channels, and in turn, caused the farmers to suffer losses. The impact was more severe in perishable products and their production areas, as well as in poverty-stricken regions. Then, we identified China’s quick and effective actions to match the supply and demand. These findings suggest that emergency responses should coordinate the relationship between emergency actions and the necessary logistics of agricultural production. To prepare for the possibility of such shock in the future, the government should take actions to clear logistics obstacles for necessary transportation, keep enhancing the fundamental infrastructure and effective mechanism of the food supply chain, and actively include innovative techniques to build a more resilient food system.

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“…In Ghana, for instance, while the performance of agriculture to gross domestic product has dwindled in recent years, the sector still contributes immensely to foreign exchange earnings, food security, employment and poverty reduction (MOFA, 2016). Nevertheless, transboundary challenges such as climate change and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, have intensified the 'wicked problem' of food insecurity across the globe with adverse impact in developing, poor and vulnerable countries (Niles et al, 2020;Adjognon, Bloem, & Sanoh, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%