ABSTRACT
Dairy production systems in Ecuador have been studied in the last 10 years. During the Covid-2019 pandemic, the entire human society was harmed and agricultural activities affected by the disease and by the restrictions implemented to prevent its spread. The dairy industry did not escape this global situation and was affected in various countries. Reports from Ecuador and Asian countries indicate the unfavorable effect that this global health emergency situation had on dairy production. However, according to a report by the Argentine Dairy Chain Observatory1, world milk production had a constant growth of around 3%. It is considered that the activities carried out by veterinarians, milking and animal handling operators, inseminators and by the personnel dedicated to the management of paddocks were affected by Covid-19. Likewise, the supply of medicines, agricultural inputs and technology had a critical situation due to the pandemic. In addition, the response times were not always adequate, especially due to the absenteeism of livestock personnel, human mortality and effects on the health and well-being of people . Therefore, it is of interest to investigate the effects the pandemic could have on the country's cattle farms. The objective of this work was to evaluate whether the pandemic period affected milk production per hectare per year in Ecuadorian herds.
ABSTRACT
The restrictions caused by the pandemic of COVID-19 have affected almost all economic sectors of different countries, including agriculture. At the global level of quarantine and lockdowns, the whole humanity has been faced with various problems, food insecurity being one of them. The current research aims to study the effect of the restraints imposed in Armenia upon COVID-19, in 2020 on the activities of small and medium dairy farms and to compare the retrieved data with those of pre-pandemic period. The study period covered March-August, 2020, when the most severe restrictions were working in Armenia, while the indicators were compared with the data of 2019 for the same period. Meanwhile, the changes of the customer behavior from the prospect of milk and dairy product purchase throughout the restriction period have been disclosed and their incentives have been enhanced. The investigations testify that in Armenia the milk production and sale prices haven't undergone any significant changes within the restriction period, which is mainly accounted for internal market sale and short run of severe restrictions. Considerable change has been recorded in the customer behavior, particularly in the first month after declaring state of emergency. An increase in the purchase rate of milk and dairy product per one-time buy, as well as a decrease in the visit frequency to the shops and supermarkets have been recorded.
ABSTRACT
The economic and health crises related to the COVID-19 pandemic raised considerable concern about child and family diet, especially among small-holder farming households in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). In rural Nepal, 309 families (including 368 children aged 6-66 months) were enrolled pre-COVID-19 in a prospective study of a nutrition education intervention and family milk consumption. The intervention could not be implemented due to COVID-19; however, child and family diet was assessed in three household surveys (one before and two during the pandemic). Over time, after adjusting for child and household factors, child and family diet quality declined (reduced diet diversity, consumption of milk and animal-source-foods (ASF)). However, in dairy-animal-owning (vs. non-dairy-animal-owning) households, both children and family were more likely to consume milk (aOR respectively 2.88× (p < 0.05), 5.81× (p < 0.001)). Similarly, in households producing >3.5 L/d milk (vs. ≤3.5 L/d), children and family members were more likely to consume milk (respectively 7.45× and 11.88× (both p < 0.001)). Thus, the overall decline in child and family diet quality, especially related to milk consumption, was buffered independently by household ownership of ≥1 dairy animals (cow or buffalo) and by milk production >3.5 L/day. A better understanding of these protective factors might facilitate the development of interventions to promote resilience in future crises.