Vulnerability and resilience among farmers and market actors in local agri-food value chains in the face of COVID-19 disruptions: findings from Uganda and Kenya

IF 5.6 1区农林科学 Q1 FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Food Security Pub Date : 2024-01-10 DOI:10.1007/s12571-023-01414-z

Verena Bitzer, Froukje Kruijssen, Johnny Mugisha, Lydiah Waswa, Judith Aliso, Betty Nakazzi

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Abstract

Countries which imposed strict containment measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are thought to have faced particular socio-economic challenges. This study assesses the implications of COVID-19 disruptions on local agri-food value chain actors in Kenya and Uganda, as both countries enacted strict lockdowns to limit the spread of the virus. Using survey data from 527 smallholder farmers and 107 small-scale market actors, the study analyses these actors’ vulnerability and resilience. This is operationalised as (1) the exposure of respondents to COVID-19 containment measures, (2) effects of these measures as observed by respondents (e.g. on production or trade and income), and (3) (short-term) coping strategies used by respondents to deal with such impacts. Our results show how containment measures have restricted personal movement and transport options and have limited access to agricultural inputs and markets. This led to a decrease in agricultural production and local trading activities. While both farmers and market actors experienced massive negative income effects, market actors were being hit particularly hard as their livelihoods depend on free movement which was severely curtailed during the pandemic. Actors from both categories often tried to cope by selling livestock, using savings and lowering both food intake and food diversity. Coping strategies were thus short-term and further reduced actors’ resilience by exhausting their buffering capacity and exposing them to the risk of food insecurity.

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当地农业食品价值链中的农民和市场参与者面对 COVID-19 干扰的脆弱性和复原力：乌干达和肯尼亚的调查结果

针对 COVID-19 大流行采取严格遏制措施的国家被认为面临着特殊的社会经济挑战。本研究评估了 COVID-19 干扰对肯尼亚和乌干达当地农业食品价值链参与者的影响，因为这两个国家都颁布了严格的封锁措施以限制病毒的传播。本研究利用 527 位小农和 107 位小型市场参与者的调查数据，分析了这些参与者的脆弱性和复原力。具体表现为：(1) 受调查者受 COVID-19 遏制措施影响的程度；(2) 受调查者观察到的这些措施的影响（如对生产或贸易和收入的影响）；(3) 受调查者为应对这些影响而采取的（短期）应对策略。我们的研究结果表明，遏制措施限制了个人行动和运输选择，并限制了农业投入和市场准入。这导致了农业生产和当地贸易活动的减少。虽然农民和市场参与者的收入都受到了巨大的负面影响，但市场参与者受到的打击尤为严重，因为他们的生计依赖于自由行动，而在大流行期间，自由行动受到了严重限制。这两类行为者往往试图通过出售牲畜、动用储蓄以及减少食物摄入量和食物多样性来应对。因此，这些应对策略都是短期的，耗尽了行为者的缓冲能力，使他们面临粮食无保障的风险，从而进一步削弱了他们的抗灾能力。

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来源期刊

Food Security FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY-

CiteScore

14.00

自引率

6.00%

发文量

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： Food Security is a wide audience, interdisciplinary, international journal dedicated to the procurement, access (economic and physical), and quality of food, in all its dimensions. Scales range from the individual to communities, and to the world food system. We strive to publish high-quality scientific articles, where quality includes, but is not limited to, the quality and clarity of text, and the validity of methods and approaches. Food Security is the initiative of a distinguished international group of scientists from different disciplines who hold a deep concern for the challenge of global food security, together with a vision of the power of shared knowledge as a means of meeting that challenge. To address the challenge of global food security, the journal seeks to address the constraints - physical, biological and socio-economic - which not only limit food production but also the ability of people to access a healthy diet. From this perspective, the journal covers the following areas: Global food needs: the mismatch between population and the ability to provide adequate nutrition Global food potential and global food production Natural constraints to satisfying global food needs: § Climate, climate variability, and climate change § Desertification and flooding § Natural disasters § Soils, soil quality and threats to soils, edaphic and other abiotic constraints to production § Biotic constraints to production, pathogens, pests, and weeds in their effects on sustainable production The sociological contexts of food production, access, quality, and consumption. Nutrition, food quality and food safety. Socio-political factors that impinge on the ability to satisfy global food needs: § Land, agricultural and food policy § International relations and trade § Access to food § Financial policy § Wars and ethnic unrest Research policies and priorities to ensure food security in its various dimensions.