Between collapse and resilience: Emerging empirical evidence of COVID-19 impact on food security in Uganda and Zimbabwe
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Date
2020-02-16
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Publisher
Plos
Abstract
There is widespread agreement that COVID-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge for
food security in low-income countries. Strict lockdown rules to contain the spread of the virus
have made food production, distribution and access difficult. However, the scarcity of
consolidated data on COVID-19-induced food supply and demand interruptions in low-income
countries exacerbates the challenge of effective short-term and long-term food security
responses. This paper is among the first to present emerging empirical evidence of the food
supply-side and demand-side impact of COVID-19 in low-income countries. We interviewed 36
food suppliers and public sector stakeholders involved in the COVID-19 response in Uganda
and Zimbabwe and collected household survey data in Uganda’s Central Region to analyse four
food types, namely staple food with long shelf life, staple food with intermediate shelf life,
perishable fruit and vegetables, and perishable animal products. We find a negative, albeit highly
varied impact of COVID-19 on both food supply and household impact. Some food supply chains
like matooke and fish in Uganda or tomatoes and lettuce in Zimbabwe have largely collapsed,
and urban slum respondents in our sample report a reduction of average daily meals consumed
from 2.4 to 1.3. At the same time, mediated by structural value chain differences, domestically
produced staple crops, certain fresh vegetables, the Ugandan dairy value chain have been more
resilient, the decrease in average number of daily meals consumed is limited for our rural
household survey respondents. While there is an urgent need for short-term action to avert acute
food insecurity in both countries, they offer lessons how long-term structural resilience against
external shocks can be improved.
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Citation
Trotter, P., Mugisha, M. B., Mgugu-Mhene, A. T., Batidzirai, B., Jani, A. R., & Renaldi, R. (2020). Between collapse and resilience: Emerging empirical evidence of COVID-19 impact on food security in Uganda and Zimbabwe. Available at SSRN 3657484.