scholarly journals A Multi-Phase Assessment of the Effects of COVID-19 on Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods in Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vine Mutyasira
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Response Measures ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Multi Phase

The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to affect agri-food systems around the world and lay bare its fragility, worsening the welfare of millions of smallholder farmers whose livelihoods are anchored on agricultural activities. For the vast majority of sub-Saharan Africa, COVID-19 has coincided with a number of other macroeconomic shocks, which have also exacerbated the impacts of the pandemic on food security, nutrition and general livelihoods, as well curtailed policy responses and mitigation strategies. In Zimbabwe, the COVID-19 pandemic struck at a time the country was experiencing a worsening economic and humanitarian situation. This study focused more on community and household dynamics and response measures to cope with the pandemic. This paper presents a summary of findings emerging from a series of rapid assessment studies undertaken by the Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) Programme in Mvurwi and Concession areas of Mazowe District in Zimbabwe to examine how COVID-19 is affecting food systems and rural livelihoods in our research communities.

scholarly journals Rapid Assessment of the Impact of Covid-19 on Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa – Synthesis Report 2

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Carreras ◽  
Amrita Saha ◽  
John Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Synthesis Report ◽  
June July ◽  
The Impact

This report presents a summary of findings emerging from the second round of a three-wave rapid assessment led by the Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) Programme of the Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) in October-November 2020 to examine how COVID-19 is affecting food systems and rural livelihoods in eight countries – Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It builds on a set of phone-based household surveys and key informant interviews conducted in those countries in June-July 2020, which served as the baseline for this research.1 APRA will continue to monitor the situation as the response to the pandemic unfolds through the third round of data collection and analysis planned for the first quarter of 2021.

scholarly journals Rapid Assessment of the Impact of Covid-19 on Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa – Synthesis Report 1

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Carreras ◽  
Amrita Saha ◽  
John Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Synthesis Report ◽  
June July ◽  
The Impact

To gain a better understanding of the impact that COVID-19 is having on food systems and rural livelihoods in the region, researchers in the Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) Programme of the Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) are conducting a rolling series of telephone-based household surveys and key informant interviews in selected study locations across multiple countries. This report presents results from the first round of that research in seven countries – Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe – from interviews conducted in June-July 2020.1 APRA will monitor the situation as the pandemic unfolds through further rounds of data collection and analysis in late 2020 and early 2021.

scholarly journals A Multi-Phase Assessment of the Effects of COVID-19 on Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods in Malawi

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirriam Matita ◽  
Masautso Chimombo
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Livelihood Systems ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Multi Phase

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions to national and global economies with devastating effects on food systems and livelihoods across the globe. These effects of the pandemic on poverty, hunger, and malnutrition, among others, are likely to be greater among low and middle-income countries like those in sub- Saharan Africa, including Malawi. This is because even before the COVID-19 pandemic began the proportion of people facing poverty, and food and nutrition insecurity were already high. It is, therefore, imperative to understand the effects of COVID-19 on food systems and rural livelihoods. Using a multi-stage ‘rapid assessment’, this study provides real-time insights into how the COVID-19 crisis unfolded in Malawi and how rural people and food and livelihood systems respond.

scholarly journals A Multi-Phase Assessment of the Effects of COVID-19 on Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Olwande ◽  
Miltone Ayieko ◽  
John Mukundi ◽  
Nicholas Odhiambo
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
First Case ◽  
Multi Phase ◽  
The Impact

Kenya confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on 12 March 2020. Like many governments across the world, the Kenyan government implemented various measures aimed at slowing down local spread of the virus and cushioning the population against the negative economic effects of the pandemic and the associated policy restrictions. International organisations and researchers postulated that the measures would negatively affect economic activities and livelihoods, with undesirable implications for poverty and food insecurity. Particularly vulnerable would be populations in developing countries such as Kenya, where many people depend on food systems for their livelihoods, and the majority of those are smallholder farmers who often have low economic power. The objective of this rapid assessment was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the food system and the sub-set of the population largely dependent on agriculture in Kenya to inform actions that can assure protection of rural livelihoods and continued access to adequate and affordable food of acceptable quality to the population. This report presents results of that rapid assessment.

scholarly journals Urbanisation as driver of food system transformation and opportunities for rural livelihoods

Food Security ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie de Bruin ◽  
Just Dengerink ◽  
Jasper van Vliet
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Enabling Factors ◽  
Rural Livelihood ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Sub Saharan

AbstractUrbanisation is changing food systems globally, and in particular in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This transformation can affect rural livelihoods in multiple ways. Evidence on what enabling conditions are needed to materialise the opportunities and limit risks is scattered. Here we review scientific literature to elaborate on how urbanisation affects food systems, and on the enabling conditions that subsequently shape opportunities for rural livelihoods. We find that urbanisation leads to a rising and changing food demand, both direct and indirect land use changes, and often to more complex market linkages. Evidence shows that a wide range of enabling conditions can contribute to the materialisation of opportunities for rural livelihoods in this context. Reviewed evidence suggests that the connectivity to urban centres is pivotal, as it provides access to finance, inputs, information, services, and off-farm employment. As a result, physical and communication infrastructure, the spatial pattern of urbanisation, and social networks connecting farmers to markets are identified as important enabling factors for the improvement of rural livelihood outcomes. Our findings suggest that coordinated and inclusive efforts are needed at different scales to make sure rural livelihoods benefit from urbanisation and food system transformation.

scholarly journals A Multi-Phase Assessment of the Effects of COVID-19 on Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods in Ghana

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Hodey ◽  
Fred Dzanku
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Commercial Activities ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Socio Economic Impact ◽  
June July ◽  
Multi Phase ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted food systems in Ghana since its emergence in the country in March 2020. According to the United Nations World Food Programme, the socio-economic impact of the pandemic caused by the imposition of restrictions on social and commercial activities appears to be more devastating than the actual virus in many countries. This study is part of the Agricultural Policy Research in Africa programme’s assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on food systems and livelihoods in Ghana and seven other African countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Conducted between June–July 2020 and February–March 2021, the study seeks to estimate the potential impact of COVID-19 on food systems and livelihoods in south-western Ghana.

scholarly journals A Multi-Phase Assessment of the Effects of COVID-19 on Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adebayo B. Aromolaran ◽  
Milu Muyanga ◽  
Fadlullah O. Issa ◽  
Oladele Oladeji
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
First Case ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
Multi Phase ◽  
Death Cases

The first case of COVID-19 in Nigeria was reported on 27 February 2020. By 30 March 2020, Nigeria had recorded 131 confirmed cases and two deaths. To mitigate the impending health crisis, the Nigerian Government quickly commenced a series of COVID-19 lockdowns across states in Nigeria on 30 March 2020. These lockdowns lasted for three months before a gradual relaxation began on 1 July 2021. However, infection and death cases in the country increased substantially during the months of substantial relaxation of restrictions between October 2020 and March 2021. This paper presents the results of the rapid assessment study in Nigeria between July 2020 and February 2021, which sought to document and understand the differential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural commercialisation, food and nutrition security, employment, poverty, and well-being in rural households.

scholarly journals Farmers' response to COVID-19 disruptions in the food systems in Ghana: the case of cropland allocation decision.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Martey ◽  
Peter Goldsmith ◽  
Prince M. Etwire
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Seemingly Unrelated Regression ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Allocation Decision ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Food Commodities ◽  
Cropland Allocation ◽  
Allocation Decisions

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health issue with disruption effects in the agricultural food systems especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where most of the population is engaged in the agricultural sector. While prices of food commodities continue to increase, farmers are likely to be food insecure or market-oriented by allocating land resources between commercial and staple crops. This study provides new evidence on the determining factors of cropland allocation decisions within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study employs the probit and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) models on 309 farm households. The results reveal that socio-economic, production, institutional, and political factors significantly influence the choice of cropland allocation decisions and the size of cropland allocated to legumes and cereals. Beyond these factors, we find that COVID-19 education increases land area allocated to staples while farmers' perception that COVID-19 will impact negatively on agricultural production leads to an increase in the area under commercial crop (soybean) production. The result suggests that promoting farmer education on the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and understanding farmer perceptions of the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 will guide future adaptation and mitigation strategies as well as determining the "best" possible cropland allocation decision.

scholarly journals Precision Agriculture for Resource Use Efficiency in Smallholder Farming Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1158
Author(s):  
Cecilia M. Onyango ◽  
Justine M. Nyaga ◽  
Johanna Wetterlind ◽  
Mats Söderström ◽  
Kristin Piikki
Keyword(s):  
Resource Use ◽  
Precision Agriculture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
English Language ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Sub Saharan

Opportunities exist for adoption of precision agriculture technologies in all parts of the world. The form of precision agriculture may vary from region to region depending on technologies available, knowledge levels and mindsets. The current review examined research articles in the English language on precision agriculture practices for increased productivity among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 7715 articles were retrieved and after screening 128 were reviewed. The results indicate that a number of precision agriculture technologies have been tested under SSA conditions and show promising results. The most promising precision agriculture technologies identified were the use of soil and plant sensors for nutrient and water management, as well as use of satellite imagery, GIS and crop-soil simulation models for site-specific management. These technologies have been shown to be crucial in attainment of appropriate management strategies in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of resource use in SSA. These technologies are important in supporting sustainable agricultural development. Most of these technologies are, however, at the experimental stage, with only South Africa having applied them mainly in large-scale commercial farms. It is concluded that increased precision in input and management practices among SSA smallholder farmers can significantly improve productivity even without extra use of inputs.

scholarly journals REVIEW OF SEASONAL CLIMATE FORECASTING FOR AGRICULTURE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

2011 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES W. HANSEN ◽  
SIMON J. MASON ◽  
LIQIANG SUN ◽  
ARAME TALL
Keyword(s):  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Seasonal Forecast ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Seasonal Forecasting ◽  
Seasonal Forecasts ◽  
Climate Services ◽  
Seasonal Climate ◽  
Climate Forecasting ◽  
Probabilistic Forecasts ◽  
Sub Saharan

SUMMARYWe review the use and value of seasonal climate forecasting for agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with a view to understanding and exploiting opportunities to realize more of its potential benefits. Interaction between the atmosphere and underlying oceans provides the basis for probabilistic forecasts of climate conditions at a seasonal lead-time, including during cropping seasons in parts of SSA. Regional climate outlook forums (RCOF) and national meteorological services (NMS) have been at the forefront of efforts to provide forecast information for agriculture. A survey showed that African NMS often go well beyond the RCOF process to improve seasonal forecast information and disseminate it to the agricultural sector. Evidence from a combination of understanding of how climatic uncertainty impacts agriculture, model-based ex-ante analyses, subjective expressions of demand or value, and the few well-documented evaluations of actual use and resulting benefit suggests that seasonal forecasts may have considerable potential to improve agricultural management and rural livelihoods. However, constraints related to legitimacy, salience, access, understanding, capacity to respond and data scarcity have so far limited the widespread use and benefit from seasonal prediction among smallholder farmers. Those constraints that reflect inadequate information products, policies or institutional process can potentially be overcome. Additional opportunities to benefit rural communities come from expanding the use of seasonal forecast information for coordinating input and credit supply, food crisis management, trade and agricultural insurance. The surge of activity surrounding seasonal forecasting in SSA following the 1997/98 El Niño has waned in recent years, but emerging initiatives, such as the Global Framework for Climate Services and ClimDev-Africa, are poised to reinvigorate support for seasonal forecast information services for agriculture. We conclude with a discussion of institutional and policy changes that we believe will greatly enhance the benefits of seasonal forecasting to agriculture in SSA.

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