{"id":1756,"date":"2020-04-14T12:38:51","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T12:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/covid-19-and-agriculture-resources-and-recommendations\/"},"modified":"2024-01-11T16:30:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T16:30:09","slug":"covid-19-and-agriculture-resources-and-recommendations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/covid-19-and-agriculture-resources-and-recommendations\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 and Agriculture: Resources and Recommendations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated 16th June 2020.<\/em><\/p>\n

Digital Green has been closely following the effects of COVID-19 on farmer livelihoods and resilience, food security, agricultural market systems in order to adapt digital extension approaches to best support beneficiaries under these unprecedented circumstances. While this pandemic presents many challenges, it also creates an opportunity for digital extension to continue to serve farmers and be adapted to support public health responses and new agricultural needs that arise. Digital Green staff have been in close communication with stakeholders on the ground to understand their concerns and adapt digital technologies to their current needs under COVID-19.\u00a0Furthermore, Digital Green\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Feed the Future Developing Local Extension Capacity (DLEC) project<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>organized<\/span><\/span>\u00a0a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>webinar<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0on extension and advisory services\u2019 role in crises and emergencies, including COVID-19.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Digital Green blogs<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0are showcasing<\/span><\/span>\u00a0specific actions that Digital Green has already taken to support beneficiaries during COVID-19.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Below we have listed a compendium of resources addressing agricultural challenges surging under this pandemic and responses from various actors.<\/p>\n

Impact on Food Security<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of Digital Green\u2019s partners and collaborators are at the forefront of the analysis regarding COVID-19 and its effects on agriculture and food security.\u00a0 The International Food Policy Research Institute<\/a> (IFPRI) has been curating resources covering COVID-19. IFPRI suggests that the impact of COVID-19 in the agriculture sector will be felt unevenly<\/a>; farm operations may be spared the worst, but small and medium-sized enterprises in urban areas will likely face considerable problems. They recommend addressing food security impacts stemming from reduced incomes or unemployment.<\/p>\n

In India, the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>food-based safety net<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0is providing rice or wheat and pulses to families, which helps families meet their cereal requirements, but there are concerns over exclusion of the urban poor, maintaining food quality, and the long-term effect of relief that may depress prices and affect farmers\u2019 incomes in the long run.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>IWWAGE<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0put together a<\/span><\/span>\u00a0study with qualitative evidence<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0from 1331 mandis<\/em> to show that by comparison to last year, only 6 per cent of wheat sold during the first three weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Economic & Political Weekly<\/span><\/span><\/a>, a peer-reviewed policy\u00a0<\/span>journal,\u00a0 published<\/span>\u00a0an\u00a0<\/span><\/span>article<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0that highlighted COVID-19\u2019s<\/span><\/span>\u00a0high transaction costs and uncertainty in India\u2019s transformed food supply chains: food security is at risk as 92% of food consumption in India is purchased; 80% of food consumption by value is non-grain, which means a shorter shelf life and a need for a continuous supply; and more than 60% of Indian rural incomes are linked to the post-<\/span>farmgate<\/span>\u00a0food supply.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In Africa, COVID-19 related lockdowns are affecting informal urban food trade<\/a>. Better communication between political leaders and market leaders, as well as ensuring that safety nets reach these market actors, can help mitigate effects on informal traders and markets.<\/p>\n

The United Nations (UN) University\u00a0<\/span><\/span>released estimates of the impact of COVID-19 on global poverty<\/span><\/span><\/a>, showing that COVID-19 poses a challenge to the UN Sustainable Development Goal of ending poverty by 2030; global poverty could increase for the first time since 1990.\u00a0 Furthermore, non-monetary indicators such as undernutrition and malnourishment, could also be seriously hit.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a blog, the World Bank recognizes that it is imperative to keep food moving<\/a> during these times of pandemic. They recommend addressing the domestic issues that affect food supply in stores. Secondly, countries should not\ufffc issue export bans, as these would only exacerbate economic losses. This is of particular importance, as some countries are starting to place export restrictions<\/a> already. Lastly, safe and affordable methods to get food from field to table need to be implemented, including cash transfers for farmers, ensuring the availability of key agricultural inputs, and developing health screening protocols.\u00a0 Furthermore, the World Bank is emphasizing modernizing government-to-people payments<\/a> as a social mechanism to deal with COVID-19’s effects.<\/p>\n

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition<\/a> reports the effects of COVID-19 on food systems on low- and high-income populations<\/a>, along with mitigation and adaptation systems. Main concerns include food prices and shocks to the most vulnerable. But they offer hope: this is an opportunity to focus on and prioritize food safety issues.<\/p>\n

Digital Green\u2019s collaborators are sharing their concerns stemming from this pandemic. For example, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry<\/a> (FICCI) \ufffcpublished recommendations<\/a> for addressing COVID-19’s effect on Indian agriculture. In India specifically, the agricultural cycle dictates when farmers make most of their income; therefore, ensuring proper storage, access to seeds and inputs, and allowing for intra and inter-state movement would allow farmers to sell their products or store them appropriately in order to prevent income losses.<\/p>\n

Role of Digital Extension<\/strong><\/p>\n

Organizations in the digital space are rethinking how to adapt their work and approaches in light of COVID-19. ICT Works, a community for international development professionals committed to utilizing new and emerging technologies, is providing resources <\/a>specific to digital responses<\/a> to address COVID-19. The Skoll Foundation, which focuses on social entrepreneurship, adapted its annual Skoll World Forum into a virtual forum. A session on climate-smart agriculture digital tools<\/a> addressed concerns with locusts and COVID-19 in East Africa, leveraging WhatsApp and machine learning on food security and locust interventions, as well as insurance, cash transfers and market support.<\/p>\n

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other stakeholders\u00a0<\/span><\/span>organized<\/span><\/span>\u00a0a virtual\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Global Digital Development Forum<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0 to mobilize COVID-19 digital responses and address long-term challenges to build an open, inclusive, and secure digital ecosystem.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Digital Green presented on\u00a0<\/span><\/span>learnings from digital agricultural extension<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0from the DLEC project and applicability to COVID-19.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>USAID has also issued\u00a0<\/span><\/span>guidance<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0on COVID-19 preparedness and response digital technologies and data systems.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Arghyam<\/a>, a foundation focusing on sustainable water solutions in India, recently released a \u201ccontent store<\/a>\u201d with information from partners and government agencies on handwashing, social etiquette, and government relief schemes in the form of videos, posters, and audio.<\/p>\n

Donor Responses <\/strong><\/p>\n

Many donors in the agriculture and nutrition sector are taking active steps to overcome COVID-19 challenges. For example, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation<\/a> has announced funding to develop vaccines and treatments of COVID-19, which will be critical for saving lives.\u00a0The\u00a0<\/span><\/span>World Bank<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0has launched a $160 billion USD COVID-19 emergency response to protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, and bolster economic recovery.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The World Bank has organized\u00a0<\/span><\/span>an<\/span><\/span>\u00a0agribusiness management and resilience task force in Uttar Pradesh, India, with the purpose to help farmer producer organizations address the challenges related to pre- and post-production operations stemming from COVID-19. This multi-stakeholder initiative includes the participation of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Water Resources Group 2030, the BioEnergy Board, civil society organizations, microfinance institutions, private sector logistics and agri-business solution providers, ICT companies, amongst other key stakeholders.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

USAID<\/a> has pledged $274 million USD in health and humanitarian assistance to help countries respond to COVID-19. The agency has released guidance<\/a> to implementing partners on how to deal with implementation disruptions resulting from COVID-19.<\/p>\n

The Food and Agriculture Organization<\/a> (FAO) has policy tools to help decision-makers, including a food and agriculture policy decision analysis and food price monitoring analysis. The FAO recognizes its role in supporting the emerging needs stemming from COVID-19, and plans to ramp up field implementation to\u00a0support access to agricultural inputs for farmers and herders; distribute kits, seeds, and\/or small stock in communities with higher prevalence of undernutrition; and stabilize access to food by supporting purchasing power through cash distribution.\u00a0In a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>paper<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0focusing on the role of extension and advisory services at the frontline of the response to COVID-19 to ensure food\u00a0<\/span>security,\u00a0 FAO<\/span>\u00a0indicates that extension and advisory services plan an indispensable role in minimizing the impact of COVID-19 in rural areas. They recommend adapting the delivery mechanisms of extension and advisory services, including going digital and joining forces with emergency response actors.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\ufffcHow are you and your organization adapting your approaches and the way you support beneficiaries during this pandemic? If you see opportunities to collaborate with Digital Green, please reach out to us too! Share your ideas and feedback at covid19@digitalgreen.org<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s a compendium of resources addressing agricultural challenges surging under this pandemic and responses from various actors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[29,105,111,41,112,72,46],"class_list":["post-1756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","tag-agriculture-extension","tag-covid-19","tag-extension","tag-farmers","tag-food-security","tag-health","tag-nutrition"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1756"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2694,"href":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1756\/revisions\/2694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalgreen.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}