Livelihood Challenges and Mitigation Strategies Adopted During COVID-19 Lockdown Period

Over the past century, apart from COVID-19, human civilization has seen five other significant pandemics such as the H1N1 outbreak in 2009, Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014, and subsequent outbreak in Congo in 2019, Zika outbreak in 2016, etc. However, of all these outbreaks, perhaps the COVID-19 pandemic is unparalleled due to the global proportions that it has assumed. The severity of the epidemic can be seen in terms of the number of lives lost and the multi-dimensional impact that COVID-19 has had upon the economies of nations and lives of people. Beyond the physical sphere of human life, COVID-19 has also impacted human life's social, mental, and economic aspects. This study was conducted to understand the livelihood challenges faced by the residents of 5 villages in Mulshi taluka during the lockdown period. In-depth interviews were conducted with three respondents from each village (15 respondents). The study drew upon the insights given by key opinion leaders in the towns such as Sarpanch and elected members of the gram panchayat, ASHA workers, ration shop owners etc. Identify the livelihood challenges faced by the people during the lockdown imposed due to COVID-19. Describe the strategies adopted by the people to overcome the challenges to livelihood faced by the people. The residents of the village's studies faced various challenges related to agriculture such as lack of manpower to harvest produce, lack of transportation facilities to transport produce to markets, lack of storage facilities to store agricultural produce etc, loss of employment faced by daily wage laborers due to non-operational status of small businesses during the lockdown period and challenges due to reverse migration.

Livelihood Assets and Income Generating Activities: A Comparative Analysis in the Scheduled and Non-Scheduled Areas of Jharkhand

The main objective of the article is to identify different types of livelihood assets, income generating activities (IGAs) and choices of these activities by households across social groups in the Fifth and non-Fifth Scheduled areas of Jharkhand in eastern India. It is based on a primary survey of 785 households randomly selected across caste and Scheduled Tribe groups in Giridih and Latehar districts of Jharkhand. K-means clustering is applied for determination of latent class activity clusters and Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR) model used for understanding the importance of livelihood assets in determining livelihood activity cluster (LC) for income generation. Further, discriminant analysis is applied to obtain probability of choice of individual households in determining livelihood generating activity. The analysis shows that forest-based activity remains a better livelihood support system in the Fifth Scheduled areas, which is less significant and further diminishing in the non-Fifth Scheduled areas. Rural households engaged in a diverse set of IGAs to obtain additional income to reduce risk and maintain a balanced consumption. Occupational transition is marked by the decline of agriculture and increasing reliance on daily-wage activities as the primary source of income. Other traditional livelihood activities such as animal husbandry and the collection of forest produce have less scope for income in the absence of institutional support.

KORŌṈĀ TOṞṞU KĀLATTIL TIṈAKKŪLIYĀḶARKAḶIṈ NILAI: KOḺUMPU - 12 PUTUKKAṬAI PIRATĒCATTAI MAIYAPPAṬUTTIYA CAMŪKAVIYAL ĀYVU [DAILY WAGE WORKERS IN COVID-19 PANDEMIC PERIOD: A SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH BASED ON HULFTSDORF, COLOMBO-12]

The COVID-19 pandemic has gravely wounded the world economy with serious consequences impacting all communities and individuals. However, the rich and middle class can fill in their day to day needs, because of having enough money. At the same time, daily wage workers are facing difficulties to fill in their daily life needs in the current situation. According to this, the research aims to identify the economy level of daily wage workers of Hulftdorf, Colombo-12 during this period. The primary data were collected from 54 daily wage workers though questionnaire and in-depth interview. The gathered data were discussed by mixed approach descriptive methodology. The findings of this research declare that urban daily wage workers face the many difficulties than rural daily wage workers, because of expensive and costly price of the essential commodities. At the other hand, due to lack of daily income, they do not save the money. Thus, they face economic problems in predicaments. They also get insufficient donation, aids and relief in this emergency situation.

Impact of Second Wave Covid -19 on Daily Wage Earners

The impact of Second Wave COVID-19 Pandemic on the lives of Daily Wage Earners has been largely devasted at unprecedented levels during the Lockdown and it has driven our economy to recession. India’s COVID-19 cases have once again penetrated to increase in numbers with every passing day. With the rise in number of COVID-19 cases, at the same time increase the rate of death especially the people who are affected by COVID-19. As Government imposing Curfews, once again the Daily Wage Earners are facing uncertainty. Daily Wage Earners include construction workers, street vendors, painters, weightlifting, masons, Rickshaw-puller and many more. This informal sector workers does not have necessary resources for survival. Wages play an important role in maintaining the livelihood as they rely on their Daily Wages. This results in decrease of purchasing power due to job losses or pay cuts. The level of anxiety and fear has increased among the lives of Daily Wage Earners. The pandemic has worsened the condition of Daily Wage Earners as it has put the risk of facing extreme poverty. The workers fighting on two fronts of life: Firstly, to protect themselves from pandemic threat and Secondly to battle for survival. This study will elucidate the difficulties outbrave by the Daily Wage Earners. A survey was taken among 150 Daily Wage Earners to derive the problems come across by them. The research work is based on primary source of data collected by direct questionnaire to the Daily Wage Earners of Jorhat District of Assam.

Role of AI in Agriculture: Applications, Limitations and Challenges: A Review

Increase in the world’s population as well as decrease in the availability of agricultural labour are demanding a smarter way to fulfill the global supply chain. Defining human intelligence in such a way that a machine can easily mimic it and can execute tasks which are simplest and those that are even more complex is known as artificial intelligence (AI). Recent advances in electronics offer vast opportunities for research, development and innovation in agriculture. India is facing scarcity in labour due to people moving into urban areas as daily wage workers and also due to agriculture being unproductive now a days. As a result there is always a scope to introduce new technologies like robotic platforms, plant health detection sensors, robotic harvesters, unmanned aerial vehicles, soil nutrient mapping using MATLAB etc., which can change the phase of agriculture. Present study was undertaken to summarize all the available technologies in agriculture from sowing to post harvesting. Although there are many applications, implementing an AI based technology on Indian fields is a difficult task because of the limited land holdings and different soil types. Repair and maintenance of these systems require a technical authority who should be available now and then for quick assistance.

Lowering drug prices and enhancing pharmaceutical affordability: an analysis of the national volume-based procurement (NVBP) effect in China

To cope with the increasing healthcare costs brought about by the universal health insurance programme, national volume-based procurement (NVBP) was implemented in China to reduce drug prices. However, the impact of NVBP remains unknown. We reported the effects of the NVBP pilot programme on medication affordability and discussed the challenges and recommendations for further reforms. A total of 25 molecules won the bidding in the NVBP pilot programme, and price cuts ranged from 25% to 96%. Medication affordability was measured as the number of days’ wages needed to pay for a course of treatment, and the medication was identified as affordable if the cost of a treatment course was less than the average daily wage. After the NVBP, the proportion of affordable drugs increased from 33% to 67%, and the mean affordability improved from 8.2 days’ wages to 2.8 days’ wages. Specifically, for rural residents, the proportion of affordable drugs increased from 13% to 58%, and the mean affordability improved from 15.7 days’ wages to 5.3 days’ wages. For urban residents, the proportion of affordable drugs increased from 54% to 71%, and the mean affordability improved from 5.9 days’ wages to 2.0 days’ wages. Implementing the NVBP substantially improved medication affordability. In future reforms, a multifaceted approach addressing all issues in the health system is needed to enhance medicine access.

The fixer on the Pak-Afghan frontier: A de-skilled local labour in the global media

This study examines power misuse in global news production by focusing on the role of “fixer.” Fixer is a local journalist who reports for global media on conflict-riddled areas or crisis situations. By interviewing forty fixers in Pakistan’s war-hit Pashtun Belt along the Afghanistan border, I examine the challenges they face in working with the global media’s visiting journalists before the start of the war on terror. Using Marx’s concept of proletarianization which is a process in which capital transforms a great mass of society into daily wage workers, I reveal how the local journalist, who works as fixer, is not only de-professionalized, but his precarity, due to living in a war zone, also forces him to misuse his local news traditions in working for the global media. I argue that fixers are far more than just assistants to global media outlets. Not only are they all practicing journalists in their own right, but, as locals, they also are geographically better placed to use their experience than those journalists who are coming from outside the conflict zone. Yet, this subsidiary role automatically erases this distinction leading to the real fixers’ de-skilling with consequences for the entire region.

Experiences of Hijra (transgender) communities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh

In this paper, we study the transgender or Hijra communities to recognize and discuss the ongoing and long-term economic, mental, and emotional effects of lockdown on the most vulnerable who are worse off than daily wage earners. Hijras are a group of transgender people, non-binary and intersex women who have been assigned to be male at birth. In Bangladesh, they are deprived of basic human rights such as access to health care because of discrimination. Hijras in Bangladesh, especially during the national lockdown, have been adversely affected by the pandemic. There is a need for support and awareness to improve mental health awareness and eliminate stigma and prejudice. This article stands for the impact of COVID-19 on the Hijra or transgender community in Bangladesh.

Youth Participation in Agriculture and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria

With data from 683 systematically selected households, the study employed the Heckman two-stage model and the propensity score matching method (PSM) to examine the impact of youth participation in agriculture as a primary occupation on income and poverty in Nigeria. The results indicate that the gender of the youth and their determination to stay in agriculture significantly increases the probability that youth will participate in agriculture as a primary occupation. In addition, youth participation in agriculture as a main occupation contributes significantly to per capita household income and has the likelihood to reduce poverty by 17%. The daily wage rate of hired labor and the total farmland owned are the variables that positively explained the per capita income. Poverty was reduced by market access, having agriculture as a primary occupation, income from agricultural production, the total monetary value of all the household assets, determination to remain in agriculture, and the square of the respondents’ age. These results imply that creating employment for youth by engaging them in agriculture as a full-time occupation can increase their income and reduce poverty. However, the promotion of other secondary occupations, land, and market access is also vital.

Assessing the prices and affordability of oncology medicines for three common cancers within the private sector of South Africa

Background Prices of cancer medicines are a major contributor to the cost of treatment for cancer patients and the comparison of these cost needs to be assessed. Objectives To assess the prices of cancer medicines for the three most common cancers ((breast, prostate and colorectal) in the private healthcare sector of South Africa. Methods The methodology was adapted from the World Health Organization (WHO)/ Health Action International (HAI) methodology for measuring medicine prices. The Single Exit Price (SEP) variations between product types of the same medicine between the highest- and lowest-priced product and between Originator Brand (OB) and its Lowest Priced Generic (LPG) of the same medicine brand was compared, as of March 2020. The affordability of those medicines for cancer usage based on treatment affordability in relation to the daily wage of the unskilled Lowest-Paid Government Worker (LPGW) was also determined. Also, a comparison of the proportion of the population below the poverty line (PL) before (Ipre) and after (Ipost) procurement of the cancer medicines was determined. Results SEP Price differences ranged from 25.46 to 97.33% between highest- and lowest-priced products and a price variation of 72.09% more for the OB than the LPG medicine, except for one LPG that was more expensive than the OB. Affordability calculations showed that All OB treatments for all three cancers (breast, prostate and colorectal), except for paclitaxel 300 mg (0.2 days wage) and Fluorouracil (Fluroblastin) 500 mg (0.3 days wage) costs respectively were more than 1 day’s wage, with patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer needing 32.5 days wages in order to afford a standard course of treatment for a month. Conclusion There was a considerable variation in the price of different brands of cancer medicines available in the South African private sector.