COVID-19 impacts on food systems in fisheries-dependent island communities

Policies designed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted food systems worldwide. How impacts played out in local food systems, and how these affected the lived experiences of different people is only just coming to light. We conducted a structured analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 containment policies on the food systems of small-scale fishing communities in Kenya, Papua New Guinea, and Saint Lucia, based on interviews with men and women fishers, fish traders, and community leaders. Participants reported that containment policies lead indirectly to reduced volumes of food, lower dietary diversity, increased consumption of traditional foods, and reduced access to fish for food and income. Although the initiating policy and food and nutrition security outcomes often appeared similar, we found that the underlying pathways and feedbacks causing these impacts were different based on local context. Incorporating knowledge of how context-specific factors shape food system outcomes may be key to tailoring strategies to mitigate the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and designing timely, strategic interventions for future systemic shocks. © 2023, Resilience Alliance. All rights reserved.

Automating the search and discovery of manufacturing service providers to enable a digital supply chain network

Uncertainty in manufacturing networks has created barriers to closing the gap between design enterprises and the American industrial base. Uncertainty arises from the lack of transparent access to manufacturer capabilities, the inability to auto-discover service providers who are best capable for a given job request, and the dependence on human word-of-mouth trust network relationships that exist in the manufacturing supply chain. This uncertainty slows down the pace of product development lifecycles from a viewpoint of inefficient forms of supplier assessment, vetting, selection, and compliance, leading to a trust tax tacked onto the final price of products. In times of global crisis such as the coronavirus disease pandemic, this uncertainty also leads to inefficient forms of gathering information on manufacturing capability, available capacity, and registered licenses and assessing compliance. This technical note outlines solution pathways that can help ease the search and discovery process of connecting clients and manufacturing service providers through digitally enabled technologies. Copyright © 2020 by ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959.