COVID-19's impacts on incomes and food consumption in urban and rural areas are surprisingly similar: Evidence from five African countries.

African governments imposed mobility restrictions to suppress the spread of COVID-19. Many observers feared these measures would dramatically decrease incomes and increase food insecurity and anticipated that urban households would be much more impacted than rural ones. We use rural and urban survey data from 4000 households across five African countries to assess the pandemic's effect on incomes and food consumption. We find that a large share of the population saw incomes drop between March and July 2020. But these decreases were 43-63% smaller than predictions and early estimates, and highly correlated with the severity of restrictions. The income and food consumption impacts of the COVID-19 shock were widespread over both rural and urban areas. Policy making during a pandemic should recognize that restrictive measures will affect rural and urban, farming and non-farming, and richer and poorer households.

Guest Editorial: Geographies of engagement, livelihoods and possibility in South and Southeast Asian deltas

In conclusion, this collection of papers shows that, just as delta environments are continually remade through the interplay of human intervention and environmental forces (more so than most other environments because of the dynamic nature of riverine erosion and deposition and the interface between land and sea), so too are livelihoods of delta dwellers continually adapting to the effects of similar sets of forces. The three deltas considered here were perceived by colonial administrations as "food bowls" that would generate wealth in British India (the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta) and Burma (the Ayeyarwady Delta), and for French colonial interests in Indo-China (the Mekong Delta). Delta regions in South and Southeast Asia have historically been key sites of trade, exchange and wealth-creation. What remains difficult to answer is the question of how future delta economies and residents' livelihoods will change, particularly for the resource-poor, should the social-ecological delta systems cross tipping points and reach a point of collapse (Renaud I et al i ., 2014). [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

COVID-19 impacts and adaptations in Asia and Africa's aquatic food value chains.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a shock affecting all areas of the global food system. We tracked the impacts of COVID-19 and associated policy responses on the availability and price of aquatic foods and production inputs during 2020, using a high frequency longitudinal survey of 768 respondents in Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Myanmar, Nigeria. We found the following: (1) Aquatic food value chains were severely disrupted but most effects on the availability and accessibility of aquatic foods and production inputs were short-lived. (2) Impacts on demand for aquatic foods, production inputs, and labor have been longer lasting than impacts on their supply. (3) Retail prices of aquatic foods spiked briefly during March-May 2020 but trended down thereafter, whereas prices of production inputs rose. These trends suggest a deepening 'squeeze' on the financial viability of producers and other value chain actors. (4) Survey respondents adapted to the challenges of COVID-19 by reducing production costs, sourcing alternative inputs, diversifying business activities, leveraging social capital, borrowing, seeking alternative employment, and reducing food consumption. Many of these coping strategies are likely to undermine well-being and longer-term resilience, but we also find some evidence of proactive strategies with potential to strengthen business performance. Global production of aquatic food likely contracted significantly in 2020. The importance of aquatic food value chains in supporting livelihoods and food and nutrition security in Asia and Africa makes their revitalization essential in the context of COVID-19 recovery efforts. We outline immediate and longer-term policies and interventions to support this goal.

Impacts of COVID-19 on Myanmar's chicken and egg sector, with implications for the sustainable development goals

CONTEXT Chicken and eggs make important contributions to the food and nutrition security of low-income households in Myanmar, making it important to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on Myanmar's poultry sector. OBJECTIVE First, we evaluate the responsiveness and resilience of different chicken and egg farming systems in Myanmar to the shock of COVID-19. Second, we evaluate implications of the performance of the chicken and egg sector during COVID-19 for the Sustainable Development Goals. METHODS We conducted six waves of telephone interviews from June to November 2020 with 269 chicken farms close to Yangon. We compared impacts in two types of production system - broilers and layers - using a survey of the same farms conducted in 2019 as a baseline. For each type of farm, we compared ‘integrated’ and ‘non-integrated’ farms, where integration involves combining production of chickens and fish. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS First, the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted chicken and egg production. More than 30% of broiler farms and 10% of layer farms closed before June, 42% of long-term farmworkers were laid off, and indicators of business sentiment were much more pessimistic than in 2019. Second, the sector experienced a V-shaped recovery until September 2020 when a second wave of COVID-19 hit Myanmar. Third, the impacts of COVID-19 vary by production system. Broiler farms have a much shorter production cycle than layer farms and were able rapidly adjust operational status by closing or reopening, whereas very few layer farms reopened after closing. Fourth, integrated layer-fish farms proved more resilient to the shock of COVID-19 than layer farms, with 90% of layer-fish farms and 76% of layer farms remaining operational in November, but there was no difference in the performance of broiler-fish and broiler farms. Fifth, the slow supply response of layer farms has meant higher egg prices for consumers, likely affecting nutritional intakes and making it more difficult for Myanmar to achieve the second Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030. SIGNIFICANCE The results contribute to understanding of the challenges faced by chicken farms in Myanmar during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effectiveness of their adaptive responses. Results have implications for other countries in Asia where integrated livestock-fish farms are common, and other developing countries where the poultry sector is expanding rapidly.

Emerging COVID-19 impacts, responses, and lessons for building resilience in the seafood system.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns are creating health and economic crises that threaten food and nutrition security. The seafood sector provides important sources of nutrition and employment, especially in low-income countries, and is highly globalized allowing shocks to propagate. We studied COVID-19-related disruptions, impacts, and responses to the seafood sector from January through May 2020, using a food system resilience 'action cycle' framework as a guide. We find that some supply chains, market segments, companies, small-scale actors and civil society have shown initial signs of greater resilience than others. COVID-19 has also highlighted the vulnerability of certain groups working in- or dependent on the seafood sector. We discuss early coping and adaptive responses combined with lessons from past shocks that could be considered when building resilience in the sector. We end with strategic research needs to support learning from COVID-19 impacts and responses.