Nchanji Eileen Bogweh, Lutomia Cosmas Kweyu, Chirwa Rowland, Templer Noel, Rubyogo Jean Claude, Onyango Patricia
International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Kenya.
Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Kenya.
Agric Syst. 2021 Mar;188:103034. doi: 10.1016/j.agsy.2020.103034.
Africa's agriculture and food systems were already grappling with challenges such as climate change and weather variability, pests and disease, and regional conflicts. With rising new cases of COVID 19 propelling various African governments to enforce strict restrictions of varying degrees to curb the spread. Thus, the pandemic posed unprecedented shocks on agriculture and food supply chains in Sub Saharan Africa. In this study, we use survey data collected from nine countries in Central, Eastern, and Southern, Africa to understand the immediate impact of COVID-19 on production, distribution, and consumption of common beans, and possible food security implications. Descriptive analysis of data collected from bean farmers, aggregators, processors, bean regional coordinators, and mechanization dealers reveal that COVID-19 and government restrictions had impacted the availability and cost of farm inputs and labour, distribution, and consumption of beans in Eastern and Southern Africa. The immediate impacts were dire in Southern Africa with Central Africa slightly impacted. The production and distribution challenges negatively impacted on frequency and patterns of food consumption in households in Africa. Thus, the pandemic poses a greater risk to food security and poverty in the region. Governments could play a significant role in supporting the needs of smallholder farmers, traders and other actors through provision of subsidized agricultural inputs.
非洲的农业和粮食系统已经在应对气候变化、天气多变、病虫害以及地区冲突等挑战。随着新冠病毒新病例不断增加，非洲各国政府纷纷实施不同程度的严格限制措施以遏制疫情传播。因此，这场疫情给撒哈拉以南非洲地区的农业和粮食供应链带来了前所未有的冲击。在本研究中，我们利用从非洲中部、东部和南部九个国家收集的调查数据，来了解新冠疫情对普通豆类生产、分销和消费的直接影响，以及可能对粮食安全产生的影响。对从豆农、批发商、加工商、豆类区域协调员和机械化经销商处收集的数据进行描述性分析后发现，新冠疫情和政府限制措施已经影响到了非洲东部和南部地区农场投入品和劳动力的供应及成本、豆类的分销和消费。南部非洲受到的直接影响极为严重，中部非洲受到的影响较小。生产和分销方面的挑战对非洲家庭的食物消费频率和模式产生了负面影响。因此，这场疫情给该地区的粮食安全和贫困问题带来了更大风险。政府可以通过提供补贴农业投入品，在支持小农户、贸易商和其他行为主体的需求方面发挥重要作用。
