The meatpacking industry's corporate exceptionalism: racialized logics of food chain worker disposability during the COVID-19 crisis

Building on theories of biopower and necropolitics, we detail how the meatpacking industry expanded corporate exceptionalism amidst the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis argues that the industry utilized three strategies to assert exceptionalism and secure increased production and profitability despite significant risks for meatpacking workers. First, the industry constructed COVID-19 as an urgent threat to the nation's meat supply, casting themselves as a critical economic linchpin. Second, the industry aligned themselves with heroic portrayals of meatpacking workers, deflecting criticism of their handling of the crisis. Third, the industry promoted images of themselves as competent stewards, meriting unfettered autonomy to manage workers' health risks. Detailing these strategies sheds light on how corporate exceptionalism functions within late capitalist food systems to further racialized logics of worker disposability. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Food, Culture & Society is the property of Routledge 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 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 . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Negative Integration Is What States Make of It? Tackling Labour Exploitation in the German Meat Sector

In this article, we trace Germany's recent reform (and its precursors) seeking to remedy precarious working conditions in the meat sector. Focusing on an extreme case of labour exploitation, and asking how unique it is, allows us to uncover which institutional features of EU Member States condition the liberalization effects of negative integration. We thereby contribute to the literature on Europeanization, which has mainly emphasized weak industrial relations to account for the German meat industry's reliance on cheap migrant labour. Complicated enforcement structures, demanding requirements of administrative cooperation, and the complexities of an evolving case law, we argue, further contributed to the precarious conditions of migrant workers in Germany. Major COVID outbreaks in slaughterhouses created the political momentum for reform which specifically addresses this administrative side of labour protection, but remains limited to the meat sector – despite similar patterns of labour exploitation elsewhere.

Game meat procurement market in Poland in 2009-2021

Procurement of game animals is a major source of revenue for hunting clubs in Poland. For several years, the game meat buying market has been showing an upward trend, but this situation is also influenced by random factors that negatively affect the value of the game meat buying market. For several years in our country we have been struggling with the ASF virus, and since 2020, negative effects in the economy related to the occurrence of the SARS-CoV virus have been observed, also affecting the hunting sector with its activities. The aim of the study was to analyze the dynamics of game meat procurement in Poland in the years 2009-2021. The data concerned the three most important species, namely deer, roe deer and wild boar. The analysis covered the quantity of game meat, procurement value and the average price of game meat depending on animal species. The conducted research confirmed an upward trend in the volume and value of game meat procurement for all the analysed game species. Similarly, the average procurement prices of roe dee and wild boar meat with the exception of red deer, showed an upward trend. The study confirmed the negative impact of the ASF virus and the SARS-CoV-2 virus on the game meat buying market in Poland.

State of care for EU mobile workers' rights in the Dutch meat sector in times of, and beyond, COVID-19

PurposeWith a focus on the position of EU mobile workers in the Dutch meat industry, this article discusses the multi-level State efforts to enhance protection of workers who experienced limited protection of existing State and private enforcement institutions. The COVID-19 pandemic, with virus outbreaks at Dutch meat plants, fuelled public and political will to structurally improve these workers' precarious work and living conditions. Yet, the process of policy change is slow. The authors show it is the gradual transformation in the institutional environment that the State needs to counter to become more protective for EU mobile workers.Design/methodology/approachUsing the gradual institutional change approach and the concept of State ignorance, the authors examine State responses drawing on interviews with expert stakeholders in the public and private domain, public administration records and newspaper articles.FindingsThrough knowledge creation, boosted social dialogue mechanisms, enhanced enforcement capacity and new housing legislation, the Dutch State focuses on countering gradual institutional change through which existing institutions lost their effectiveness as protectors of EU mobile workers. The organization of work is, nevertheless, not (yet) fundamentally addressed with tighter public legislation.Originality/valueThe findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the role of the State as multifaceted actor in institutional change processes towards increased protection for EU mobile workers.

Die Re-Regulierung der Schlachthofarbeit in der Corona-Krise

Die prekären Arbeits- und Beschäftigungsbedingungen in der Fleischindustrie sind seit geraumer Zeit Gegenstand von Regulierungsversuchen. Eine dreifache Krise – der europäischen Integration, der Arbeitsbeziehungen und der Naturverhältnisse – zog in der Vergangenheit jedoch keine substanzielle Regulierung nach sich. Unser Artikel zeigt, dass die pandemiebedingte Ausweitung der Konsequenzen auf Betroffene außerhalb der Fleischindustrie (etwa Anrainer:innen von Schlachthöfen) die Relevanz und den Handlungsdruck erheblich erhöht hat. Auch die symbolische Relevanz des Themas stieg im Zuge der Corona-Krise, weil die Regulierungen im Zusammenhang mit der Pandemiebekämpfung der Bundesregierung insgesamt gedeutet wurden. Unsere These lautet, dass sich die bemerkenswerte Geschwindigkeit der Re-Regulierung nur auf Basis der vorgängigen, dreifachen Krisendynamik der Fleischproduktion erklären lässt. Die Analyse des Policy-Wandels hat ergeben, dass die Debatte um Arbeit und Beschäftigung in der Fleischindustrie bereits seit 2007 geführt wird. Zögerliche Regulierungsversuche sahen zwar bereits 2014 einen branchenweiten Mindestlohn vor, der jedoch großflächig unterwandert wurde. Ob die neuen Regulierungen der Bundesregierung dies nun verhindern können, indem sie Leiharbeit und Werkverträge schrittweise verboten, bleibt abzuwarten.Alternate :The precarious working and employment conditions in the meat industry have been the subject of regulatory attempts in the past. A triple crisis – of European integration, of labor relations and of social nature – was not followed by regulation in the past. Our article shows that the extension of the consequences to persons affected outside the meat industry (as neighbors of slaughterhouses) due to the pandemic has significantly increased the relevance and pressure for action. The symbolic relevance of the issue also increased in the wake of the Corona crisis because regulations were interpreted in the context of the federal governmentʼs overall pandemic response. Analysis of policy change reveals that the debate about meat industry regulation has been ongoing since 2007. While tentative attempts at regulation included an industry-wide minimum wage as early as 2014, it was widely undermined. It remains tobe seen whether the federal governmentʼs new regulations can now prevent this by gradually banning temporary work and service contract work (Werkvertrag).

Public Health Practice and Health Equity for Vulnerable Workers: A Public Health of Consequence, May 2023

Structured vulnerabilities that threaten the health of meat- and poultry-packing workers are driven by a complex and complicated host of economic, occupational, social, and health care access-related factors. Recognition of these complexities is a first step. More challenging, yet critical to sustaining a commitment to social justice for these frontline workers, are public health practice initiatives rooted in health equity that work toward eliminating health disparities.In this issue of AJPH, Porter et al. (p. 500) describe implementation of a public health practice initiative aimed at reducing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and increasing vaccine uptake among poultry industry workers. This editorial seeks to contextualize this initiative as one investment in a larger constellation of investments that are needed to provide resources and services equally to all members of our society.

When Workers' Health is Public Health: The Structural Complicity of State Public Health Policies on Covid-19 Spread in Meat-Processing Plants and Minority Communities

The sense of urgency and fear in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic set the stage for unusual levels of state intervention in civic life, which, in the case of the Trump Administration, tilted heavily toward corporate welfare in the guise of public protection. This chapter draws on insights from such historical and theoretical frameworks to examine the pandemic's impact on US meatpacking workers, including evidence of "structural complicity” by health authorities (and other officials) with the meat industry, which exacerbated viral spread in two southern states. A critical medical anthropology perspective implies attentiveness to roles of power dynamics, economic inequity and racial/ethnic differences in shaping health and disease, and examination of cultural experiences of disease within the context of macrolevel structures and processes. This trend was exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, which represented perhaps the most profound failure of US public health institutions in the country's history. © 2022 John Wiley and Sons Ltd.

COVID-19 influence on developments in the global beef and sheep sectors

While the COVID-19 pandemic and associated government responses have had a substantial impact on consumers and meat supply chains worldwide, the effect on beef and sheep farming has been surprisingly small, short-lived and largely offset by other global influences. However, the impact has also varied greatly between countries and regions, largely due to differences in Government measures and in industry circumstances and influences. This study aims to provide insights into the pandemic's impacts throughout global beef and sheep supply chains, but with a focus on the farm level, particularly producer prices in 2020. At the centre of the study is an analysis of online questionnaire-based survey responses to the Global agri benchmark Beef and Sheep Network. The study also utilizes a variety of other studies and information sources to explore other potential factors that could have also driven beef and sheep sectors worldwide in 2020. It explores how these influences interacted with the effect of the pandemic. Food service sales were highly impacted by the pandemic, meat processing was temporarily disrupted in North America but global livestock prices remained high due, in large part, to the continuation of strong beef and sheep meat demand and imports in China.

Pandemia y nacionalismo: del cólera morbo asiático al virus chino. Historia de los contextos de la pandemia de covid-19

La vocación de este artículo es, desde el materialismo histórico, proponer respuestas a la crisis sanitaria de la covid-19. Para ello, planteamos cinco objetivos: plantear la estructura epidémica de la contemporaneidad;reflexionar en torno a las analogías entre cólera morbo, gripe y la covid-19;describir el proceso de fundación de la OMS, el papel de China y las transformaciones del nuevo orden mundial;analizar las consecuencias de la Revolución Ganadera;interpretar el virus chino, desde el contexto de renacimiento de los nacionalismos de estado y relacionarlo con la pandemia de covid-19. Hemos situado el punto de partida en el análisis la estructura epidémica que determina la contemporaneidad desde el cólera morbo (1817-34), la gripe española (1918-20) y la covid-19 (2020-22), es decir, se trata una exploración diacrónica de las diferentes construcciones sociales en torno a las pandemias, desde 1817 hasta 2020. Como tesis central del trabajo, trazamos una aproximación a las consecuencias de la Revolución Ganadera y el cambio climático por causas antropogénicas, y su relación con la salud humana, para desembocar en una posible conexión con la pandemia de covid-19. Pero esta tesis necesita de un análisis histórico en el que se establecen diferentes contextos que se desarrollan desde 1970: el papel de China y sus políticas de apertura a la economía de mercado, que suponen más de mil millones de nuevos consumidores, a partir de los años noventa. Esta nueva situación supondrá la explosión de la demanda de alimentos, así como la consecuente ruptura de muchos ecosistemas, de modo que, a partir de los años noventa, los argumentos ecológicos se convierten en una de las nuevas contradicciones entre el Norte y el Sur. Por otra parte, tratamos de ubicar la pandemia en su contexto más inmediato: el Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (1993) que firman Canadá, Estados Unidos y México;la desaparición de modelo de pequeñas o medianas granjas en beneficio de explotaciones verticales de millones de cerdos y aves de corral;la evolución de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), desde 1948, orientada a la cooperación y desarrollo, como factor de equilibrio Norte-Sur hasta su papel durante la pandemia, y, por último, la consolidación de las políticas económicas neoliberales (Hayek-Friedman), que fundamentan la globalización y reconstrucción del nuevo orden mundial. Además, este artículo se ocupa de los efectos que ha producido el estallido y propagación inesperada de la pandemia desde marzo de 2020 en las formas de comunicación política (oficial) de contenidos etnocéntricos y nacionalistas. Ante un problema global de dramáticas consecuencias, la respuesta de los gobiernos se concreta en tácticas populistas cuyo objetivo ha sido la exoneración de sus responsabilidades políticas, económicas, sociales y sanitarias. Tendrá que ser la OMS la que considere imprescindible establecer criterios científicos para referirse a las mutaciones del virus con el fin de acabar con la estigmatización política. La OMS tomará la iniciativa en la denominación de las variantes de interés (VOI) y variantes preocupantes (VOC) neutrales y fáciles de manejar desde el punto de vista de la información.Alternate :From a historical, sociological, and political science perspective, and inspired by the paradigm of historical materialism, this article proposes an approach to the different contexts that circumscribe the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic through two types of sources: on the one hand, the bibliography, of a historiographical, sociological and epidemiological nature, in which the collection of articles published in 2020 by Rob Wallace, under the title Big farms, big flus, stands outAgro-industries and infectious diseases, and on the other hand, the primary sources, that is, the work of analysis of the press, especially El País or El Mundo, the Resolutions and communications of the WHO, as well as other diverse documents, located on the internet. This macro-sche atic approach defines our starting point: a reflection on questions such as: What has happened to us? What is happening to us? How can international relations be interpreted? What value does the nationalist shift occupy at the moment? And even, why have we suffered a pandemic with dramatic consequences? With this in mind, the article proposes five objectives: to analyze the epidemic structure of contemporary times, to observe the analogies between cholera morbo, influenza and Covid-19, to describe the founding process of the WHO, the role of China and the transformations of the new world order and finally, to interpret the Chinese virus, from the context of the rebirth of nationalisms and to relate this interpretation to the Covid-19 pandemic. To develop these objectives, we propose a diachronic analysis of the different social constructions around pandemics from 1832 to 2020, likewise, we also intend to establish analogies between the different pandemics and the international relations that developed over three moments: he Asian morbid cholera (1817-34), the Spanish flu (1918-20) and Covid-19 (2020-22). In short, we will define the epidemic structure of contemporaneity. Next, as the central thesis of the work, we propose an approach to the consequences of the Livestock Revolution and climate change due to anthropogenic causes, and its relationship with human health to lead to a possible connection with the Covid-19 pandemic. This thesis needs a historical analysis in which different conditions that develop since 1970, during the third Industrial Revolution, are established. After the demographic explosion of the 1970s, during which time industrial livestock farming has been dominant in the United States, the production model soon spread to Latin America, Asia and Europe in such a way that a gradual relocation is set in motion that will accelerate during the l990s.That is, when Eastern Europe (just like Asia or Latin America) joins the international market and offers attractive deregulation scenarios for international food industries. For this we mainly use the hypotheses of Rob Wallace and K. Shortridge: it is essential to take into account relocation tactics, industrial strategies related to the mass production of poultry meat, and the appearance of new epidemic outbreaks that affect the population since at least 1997 -as well as the origin of typical pneumonia, known as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and its relationship with the coronavirus. In addition, the study of this specific context (1970-2020) allows us to understand five vital aspects to interpret the emergence of Covid-19: the decisive role of China and its policies of opening up to the market economy between 1980 and 1985, which accounted for more than one billion new consumers. In the face of this explosion in the demand for food and raw materials, millions of hectares are cleared to establish crop fields, and a large part of the planets ecosystems are destroyed. That is why ecological arguments become one of the new contradictions in the North-South dialectic;the process of collapse of the Soviet Union supposes the rebirth of nationalisms in Europe. From 1990 to 2007, nationalisms are consolidated, grow and evolve towards populist content, useful for the different governments during the financial crisis;the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 between Canada, the United States and Mexico will imply the practical disappearance of the traditional model of small or medium farms in the United States and Mexico, to the benefit of vertical operations of millions of pigs and poultry. In 1998, the first outbreak of swine flu was declared in North Carolina and, later, in Veracruz;the consolidation of neoliberal economic policies (Hayek-Friedman), which support globalization and reconstruction of the new world order;and lastly, the evolution of the functions of the WHO (World Health Organization) since its foundation in 1948. This was oriented towards the cooperation and development of great health campaigns in the third world an as a factor of North-South balance until the shift presented by the secretary General Halfdan T Mahler, who would define the goal of health for all by the year 2000. From this chronological and plot line, we lead to the financial crisis of 2007 to find the specific context in which the pandemic is declared in March 2020. On the other hand, this article deals with the effects that the outbreak and unexpected spread of a new virus has produced in the forms of (official) political communication of ethnocentric and nationalist content.These speeches raised xenophobic markings based on the rapid growth in morbidity and mortality statistics due to the new virus. So the concept of the Chinese virus, a social construction launched by Donald Trump, has configured a biased vision, successful until now, for the benefit of the West. Faced with a global problem with dramatic consequences, the response of governments will take the form of populist tactics whose objective will be the exoneration of their political, economic, social and health responsibilities. Given this situation, it will have to be the WHO that considers it essential to establish scientific criteria to refer to the mutations of the virus in order to end political stigmatization. The WHO will take the lead in naming information-neutral and information-friendly variants of interest (VOI) and variants of concern (VOC), renamed with letters of the Greek alphabet. In short, it is convenient to take into account the populist response of the different governments (United States, Brazil, France or Germany) centered on collective emotions typical of a language of war.

Unternehmenskonzentrationen in der Fleischbranche und die performative Rolle der Agrarökonomik – das Beispiel Sektorplanungen im Schlachthofbereich

ZusammenfassungIn der deutschen Fleischbranche wurde nur sechs Wochen nach Ausbruch der Corona-Pandemie deutlich, welch problematische und konzentrierte Strukturen hier bestehen – angezeigt durch die Schlachthöfe des Unternehmers Tönnies, die sich zu Corona-Hotspots entwickelten. Für Konzentrations- und Intensivierungsdynamiken solcher Strukturen werden üblicherweise sowohl ökonomische (wettbewerbliche Konzentrationstendenzen durch Größenvorteile) als auch wirtschaftspolitische (Arbeitsmarktpolitik, umweltpolitische Vorgaben usw.) Gründe angegeben. Kaum thematisiert wird dabei jedoch die aktive Rolle wissenschaftlicher Expertise im Prozess der fortschreitenden Intensivierung der Tierproduktion und hier insbesondere im Bereich Schlachtung und Verarbeitung. Dies steht in Diskrepanz zu der Tatsache, dass in Deutschland ab den 1970er-Jahren von Agrarökonomen Strukturpläne erstellt wurden, die dann als Sektorpläne politisch umgesetzt worden sind, wodurch die Strukturkonzentrationen maßgeblich forciert wurden.Daher soll im nachstehenden Beitrag diese performative Rolle der deutschen Agrarökonomik im Prozess der bewusst herbeigeführten Konzentrationen im Bereich der Schlachthofstrukturen thematisiert und aus soziologischer Perspektive hinterfragt werden. Dazu wird in einem ersten Schritt die Fleischbranche als Forschungsgebiet skizziert und aus wissenschaftssoziologischer Sicht auf Entwicklungen eingegangen, entlang derer die derzeitige Forschungsstruktur erklärbar wird. In einem zweiten Schritt werden die Planungsvorgänge und ihre Folgen thematisiert und hier insbesondere am Beispiel des sogenannten Böckenhoff-Planes, auf dessen Grundlage nach 1989 die Schlachthöfe in den Neuen Bundesländern stark dezimiert wurden. In einem dritten Schritt wird abschließend die aktive performative Rolle der Agrarökonomik vor dem Hintergrund der aktuellen Problemlage reflektiert. Dazu wird mit einem strukturationstheoretischen Zugang auf die Differenz zwischen marktfokussierter ökonomischer Sphäre und den Bewirtschaftungsvorgängen und ihren Folgen insgesamt insistiert. Hier zeigen sich auch die Grenzen der derzeit geltenden Ökonomik, da weder die eigene performative Rolle bei der Ausgestaltung der ökonomischen Sphäre nach marktwirtschaftlichen Vorstellungen noch die Folgewirkungen dieses Herangehens problematisiert werden.Alternate :In the German meat industry, only six weeks after the outbreak of the corona pandemic, it became clear what problematic and concentrated structures exist here—particularly indicated by the slaughterhouses of the Tönnies Group, which developed into corona hotspots. Economic reasons (competitive concentration tendencies due to economies of scale) and politico-economic factors (labor market policy, environmental policy requirements, etc.) are mentioned in order to explain the dynamics of concentration and intensification on the production side. However, the active role of scientific expertise to accelerate the progressive intensification of animal production is discussed very rarely, especially in the slaughtering and meat packing industry. This also shows the limits of the currently dominant economic approaches, which not only fail to reflect their own performative role in the shaping of the economic sphere but also ignore the consequences of their market-centered perspective.Therefore, in the following article, this performative role of German agricultural economics in the process of deliberately induced concentrations in the slaughterhouse industry will be addressed and questioned from a sociological perspective. In a first step, the meat sector as a field of research is outlined from the perspective of sociology of science. This helps explain the current research structure. In a second step, the planning processes and their consequences are discussed, in particular using the example of the so-called Böckenhoff plan, on the basis of which the slaughterhouses in the new German states were heavily decimated after 1989. Finally, in a third step, the active performati e role of agricultural economics is reflected against the background of the current situation. For this purpose, a structural theoretical approach is used to highlight the difference between the market-focused economic sphere and the economic activities and their consequences as a whole. This also shows the limits of the currently dominant economic approaches, which not only fail to reflect their own performative role in the shaping of the economic sphere but also ignore the consequences of their market-centered perspective.

Meat 4.0: Principles and Applications of Industry 4.0 Technologies in the Meat Industry

Meat 4.0 refers to the application the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) technologies in the meat sector. Industry 4.0 components, such as robotics, Internet of Things, Big Data, augmented reality, cybersecurity, and blockchain, have recently transformed many industrial and manufacturing sectors, including agri-food sectors, such as the meat industry. The need for digitalised and automated solutions throughout the whole food supply chain has increased remarkably during the COVID-19 pandemic. This review will introduce the concept of Meat 4.0, highlight its main enablers, and provide an updated overview of recent developments and applications of Industry 4.0 innovations and advanced techniques in digital transformation and process automation of the meat industry. A particular focus will be put on the role of Meat 4.0 enablers in meat processing, preservation and analyses of quality, safety and authenticity. Our literature review shows that Industry 4.0 has significant potential to improve the way meat is processed, preserved, and analysed, reduce food waste and loss, develop safe meat products of high quality, and prevent meat fraud. Despite the current challenges, growing literature shows that the meat sector can be highly automated using smart technologies, such as robots and smart sensors based on spectroscopy and imaging technology.

Agri-food trade in 2020

The year 2020 marked one of the biggest recessions in global economic activity and world trade. During this period, the EU economy contracted by 6% and its international trade followed a similar downward trend - EU exports of goods decreased by 9% and imports by 12%, compared to 2019. By contrast, EU international trade in agri-food reported a slight growth. Over the course of 2020, the value of EU agri-food exports increased to 184.3 billion (a growth of 1.4% compared to 2019), while the value of imports rose to 122.2 billion (a growth of 0.5%). As a result, the EU further reinforced its leading position among the world's biggest exporters. On the import side, the EU has become the third largest importer after the US and China. The contraction in global trade was accompanied by increasing prices of food, including commodities as evidenced by the increases reflected in the FAO Global Price Index. The EU exports a wide range of products from all parts of the value chain which demonstrates the competitiveness of the EU agri-food sector in a variety of product classes ranging from commodities to highly processed food industry products. EU imports, on the other hand, are clearly dominated by basic agricultural food and feed products, which represent about 75% of all imports. Looking at product categories, exports of pig meat and wheat strongly contributed to the increase in EU overall agri-food exports. Conversely, spirits and liqueurs as well as wine are among the sectors that experienced a difficult period for a number of reasons (e.g. the COVID pandemic, US retaliatory tariffs). The growth in EU agri-food imports was mainly driven by increases in import values for oilseeds, other than soya beans;fatty acids and waxes, palm oil, fruit including tropical fruit, and soya beans. China, Switzerland and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region were the major growth destinations for EU agri-food exports in 2020. The value of EU exports fell most to the United States, Turkey, Singapore and Japan. In terms of imports, Canada grew significantly as a source for the EU imports. By contrast, EU imports declined most in value from the United Kingdom, Ukraine and the United States. In 2020, the UK has become the EU's most important partner in agri-food trade, with a share of 23% in total EU agri-food exports and 13% in total imports. With EU exports and imports both decreasing, its trade surplus with the US increased by 2% when compared to 2019, as falls on the imports side were stronger. China became the top destination for US agri-food exports. EU agri-food exports to China were primarily driven by continued record high sales of pig meat which increased by 74%. Pig meat and meat offal - the latter mainly comprised of products originating from pigs - accounted for over 40% of EU exports to China in 2020, demonstrating the importance of this market for the pig meat sector. Brazil's exports to China continued to increase in 2020, absorbing 35% of its total agri-food exports. Combined agri-food exports from Brazil to the EU and the US now account for half of Brazilian exports to China. In 2020, Brazil supplied 50% of extra-EU demand for soya beans and 40% for oilcakes. Wheat continued to be the leading EU export product to Africa with a 23% share of the EU's total export basket, whereas cocoa beans dominate in the EU imports from Africa, with the same share of 23%. Most African countries benefit from duty-free, quota-free access to the EU market under the "Everything But Arms" scheme and for many of them Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) or other trade agreements with the EU are applied, encouraging regional cooperation and trade. In 2020, the EU applied 45 free trade agreements (FTAs) with 77 partners. The share of agri-food trade under preferential agreements is also expanding and in 2021, it accounted for 31% and 41% of total EU agri-food exports and imports, respectively. The value of EU agri-food trade under preferential agreements expanded more in relative terms compared to total EU agri-food trade. EU agri-food ex

COVID-19, Beef Price Spreads, and Market Power

Key words: meatpacking, plant shutdown, oligopoly, oligopsony (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.) Introduction The unprecedented spike in beef price spreads (Figure 1) and drop in cattle slaughter (Figure 2), as beef-packing plants closed or slowed production because of COVID-19 (Dyal, 2020;Taylor, Boulos, and Almond, 2020) prompted calls for investigations into "inappropriate influence" during the pandemic by the highly concentrated packers in the beef market (National Cattlemen's Beef Association, 2020;R-Calf, 2020;Grassley, 2020). The extent to which packer concentration and market power are believed to have triggered or exacerbated the widening of the beef price spread during the pandemic is revealed in a series of letters from cattle producer groups to lawmakers and lawmakers to government agencies. On April 29, 2020, R-Calf (2020) wrote to President Trump and congressional leaders stating that packer concentration "stymies producers' market access and robust competition for cattle... [and] also transfers any marketing power America's cattle farmers and ranchers might possess to the highly concentrated beef packing industry." On July 22, 2020, 5 months into the pandemic, the USDA released the Boxed Beef & Fed Cattle Price Spread Investigation Report, which summarized, in addition to the market impacts of the Tyson fire on beef price spreads, the market impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2020a).

Impact of COVID-19 on livestock exports from Somalia and the Horn of Africa

Somalia has a significant place in the livestock sector in the Horn of Africa;livestock trade and export is one of the key economic contributors. Most of the livestock trade happens with the Middle East, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia being one of its biggest importers. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to both massive loss of life and huge economic losses as the result of measures to contain the virus. In June 2020, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia took the decision to restrict the number of pilgrims for the annual Hajj. Impacts resulted in a decline in income from the seasonal Hajj of 80 per cent, though domestically prices of livestock remained stable and local markets were used for livestock sales. This paper, besides highlighting the effects, provides recommendations which could inform strategic planning, humanitarian aid, and resilience building for the livestock value chain in Somalia and the Horn of Africa.

Economic losses due to meat processing plants shutdown/slowdown

Temporary closure and slowdown of US meat processing plants due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in euthanasia or depopulation of livestock. This article outlines the methods of depopulation, and the federal programs to offset the associated costs and lost production value;and estimates the economic losses in 2020.

Special Issue: October 2021. (Special Issue: October 2021.)

Topics in this special issue include: yam production in some South East and North Central zones of Nigeria beyond COVID-19 for acceleration towards inclusive sustainable development;climate information needs and services for climate change mitigation and adaptation in Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Tunisia;effective biotechnologies for revolutionalizing the livestock industry and policy adjustments for enhanced agricultural production in Nigeria after COVID-19 pandemic;stemming rural-urban migration through agricultural development in Nigeria;application of biological and digital technologies in resolving the negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic on crop production;patterns for cost-sharing of agricultural technology transfer;the role of soil in saving human race from COVID-19 pandemic;and the role of commissioners of agriculture in Nigeria.

A regional approach to drought index-insurance in Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) countries: volume 2 - intergovernmental authority on development country annexes

The objectives of this report are to review for each IGAD country the overall environment for the operational feasibility of implementing IBLI. The operational feasibility areas are summarized and scored at the end of each country chapter. They include the following;Importance of pastoral livestock for economy;Impact of drought on livestock;Pastoralist demand for livestock insurance;Effective distribution channels for micro-level IBLI;Existing pastoralist beneficiary registries;Pastoralist financial literacy;Legal and regulatory insurance environment;Insurance market development;Interest from insurers in IBLI;Finance available for premiums;and Interest from government stakeholders in IBLI. This report was conducted combining a desk-based study with key informant interviews. As for Volume I, given the travel restrictions due to COVID-19, only a minimum of in-country stakeholder meetings have been possible. Instead, questionnaires were shared with more than 50 in-country expert stakeholders (of which 21 replied), including ministries of agriculture, ministries of humanitarian affairs, ministries of finance, insurance regulators, development partners, livestock associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), inquiring about the status quo of drought risk financing initiatives in IGAD countries, the status of needed operational infrastructure for a regional approach, and the interest of stakeholders to support such an approach. Where applicable, results from these questionnaires and from other stakeholder consultations were included in the country annexes (as indicated).

A systematic study on stock theft contributory factors during the South African lockdown

Undoubtedly, stock theft increased in most South African provinces during the lockdown period, thus, the objectives of this study were to provide a systematic discourse using news aggregators and seminal authors on this subject to showcase stock theft realities, and to establish the contributory factors thereof. The non-empirical research design: Systematic review methodology was used to analyse grey literature and primary research studies peer-reviewed and published, restricted from 2019-2020, as the Coronavirus disease-2019 (Covid-19) pandemic swept South Africa by an elusive heavy storm, with 1998-2022 directed studies on this scourge, however, none sequential preference was adopted. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and Critical Appraisal Skill Programme (CASP) were employed to ensure trustworthiness of the findings of this study. This study establishes that the current nature of policing in South Africa is regarded as one of the notable root causes of the stock theft problem and this crime will continue to hike during the lockdown and post-lockdown periods if concerted steps are not taken urgently by the top echelons of the South African Police Service (SAPS), their actions against this practice is currently compromised or emasculated, and the consequences are clear to see. This study recommends that to effectively respond to the identified study themes;an active discourse relating to the contributory of stock theft during lockdown should be prioritised by the South African government. This multi-agency approach should include reporting of this crime, brand-marking and tattooing of livestock, embracing technological advancements to combat it effectively.

Material flow cost accounting (MFCA) to enhance environmental entrepreneurship in the meat sector: Challenges and opportunities.

The material flow cost accounting (MFCA) is one of the most broadly standardized tools accepted in environmental, social and economic research, which traces and quantifies material flows and stock in physical and economic units. Although its application has been recently developed in the field of resource and waste management, few academic articles have investigated its value towards food waste management, which represents a topical concern on a global scale. The present research applies the MFCA to investigate the material, energetic and economic costs associated with the Italian beef, pork and poultry production, exploring related challenges and opportunities towards the enhancement of the environmental entrepreneurship in the meat sector. The present countryside analysis is based on literature and empirical data collected during the Covid-19 pandemic. It highlights the need to improve knowledge on food waste issue under the economic perspective and its dual impact: when it is generated, in terms of income losses due to by-products and finished products sales failure, and when it is disposed, in terms of disposal costs sustained by farms, processing plants and distribution and sales centers. It is estimated that more than 0.45-0.50 Mt of fresh meat is wasted along the entire Italian agri-food chain, equal to more than 242-268 million euros, to which additional energy and water losses should be added (435-481 million euros). MFCA results are useful for business decisions, highlighting quantities, qualities and costs otherwise not considered in common financial reports.

Impact of COVID-19 on livestock production in Nigeria: a review

Corona virus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has been major threat for the sustainability of human existence. In understanding the gravity of the situation, every state has undertaken special steps to fight against the pandemic mostly with measures involving social distancing and self-isolation, restriction in travel and trade. This is done in all the states to avoid the spread of the virus. All these strategies to combat against the pandemic have greatly affected an important economic sector such as livestock production. Livestock production is one of the main agricultural sector in endorsing availability and accessibility of food and human development. Livestock plays an important role in the economic system, provides food and feed material, creates employment opportunities to a very large population;meet the animal protein demands of the economy. At present, livestock industry has included game reserves, recreational centers, marketing of livestock, processing of livestock, distribution of animal products, research institutes etc. are all accepted as component of modern animal production. This review intends to document the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on livestock production and food security as it primarily involves the sustainability of human life and the economy. It was observed that the Covid-19 pandemic protocols and provisions interferes with the supply chain of the market with impaired production and distribution.