Record Details

Response and resilience of Asian agrifood systems to COVID-19: An assessment across twenty-five countries and four regional farming and food systems

OAR@ICRISAT

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/11850/
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103168
doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103168
 
Title Response and resilience of Asian agrifood systems to COVID-19: An assessment across twenty-five countries and four regional farming and food systems
 
Creator Dixon, J M
Weerahewa, J
Hellin, J
Rola-Rubzen, M F
Huang, J
Shalander, K
Das, A
Qureshi, M E
Krupnik, T J
Shideed, K
Jat, M L
Prasad, P V V
Yadav, S
Irshad, A
Asanaliev, A
Abugalieva, A
Karimov, A
Bhattarai, B
Balgos, C Q
Benu, F
Ehara, H
Pant, J
Sarmiento, J M P
Newby, J C
Pretty, J
Tokuda, H
Weyerhaeuser, H
Digal, L N
Li, L
Sarkar, M A R
Abedin, M Z
Schreinemachers, P
Grafton, Q
Sharma, R C
Saidzoda, S
Lopez-Ridaura, S
Coffey, S
Kam, S P
Win, S S
Praneetvatakul, S
Maraseni, T
Touch, V
Liang, W
Saharawat, Y S
Timsina, J
 
Subject Agriculture Policy
Food Processing & Technology
Agricultural Marketing
Gender Research
 
Description Context: The COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting health and economies across the world, although the nature
of direct and indirect effects on Asian agrifood systems and food security has not yet been well understood.
Objectives: This paper assesses the initial responses of major farming and food systems to COVID-19 in 25 Asian
countries, and considers the implications for resilience, food and nutrition security and recovery policies by the
governments.
Methods: A conceptual systems model was specified including key pathways linking the direct and indirect effects
of COVID-19 to the resilience and performance of the four principal Asian farming and food systems, viz, lowland
rice based; irrigated wheat based; hill mixed; and dryland mixed systems. Based on this framework, a systematic
survey of 2504 key informants (4% policy makers, 6% researchers or University staff, 6% extension workers, 65%
farmers, and 19% others) in 20 Asian countries was conducted and the results assessed and analysed.
Results and conclusion: The principal Asian farming and food systems were moderately resilient to COVID-19,
reinforced by government policies in many countries that prioritized food availability and affordability. Rural
livelihoods and food security were affected primarily because of disruptions to local labour markets (especially
for off-farm work), farm produce markets (notably for perishable foods) and input supply chains (i.e., seeds and
fertilisers). The overall effects on system performance were most severe in the irrigated wheat based system and
least severe in the hill mixed system, associated in the latter case with greater resilience and diversification and
less dependence on external inputs and long market chains. Farming and food systems' resilience and sustainability
are critical considerations for recovery policies and programmes, especially in relation to economic
performance that initially recovered more slowly than productivity, natural resources status and social capital.
Overall, the resilience of Asian farming and food systems was strong because of inherent systems characteristics
reinforced by public policies that prioritized staple food production and distribution as well as complementary
welfare programmes. With the substantial risks to plant- and animal-sourced food supplies from future zoonoses
and the institutional vulnerabilities revealed by COVID-19, efforts to improve resilience should be central to
recovery programmes.
Significance: This study was the first Asia-wide systems assessment of the effects of COVID-19 on agriculture and
food systems, differentiating the effects of the pandemic across the four principal regional farming and food
systems in the region.
 
Publisher Elsevier Sci Ltd
 
Date 2021-05
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/11850/1/AgSystems_Covid19impactresponse_Asia.pdf
Dixon, J M and Weerahewa, J and Hellin, J and Rola-Rubzen, M F and Huang, J and Shalander, K and Das, A and Qureshi, M E and Krupnik, T J and Shideed, K and Jat, M L and Prasad, P V V and Yadav, S and Irshad, A and Asanaliev, A and Abugalieva, A and Karimov, A and Bhattarai, B and Balgos, C Q and Benu, F and Ehara, H and Pant, J and Sarmiento, J M P and Newby, J C and Pretty, J and Tokuda, H and Weyerhaeuser, H and Digal, L N and Li, L and Sarkar, M A R and Abedin, M Z and Schreinemachers, P and Grafton, Q and Sharma, R C and Saidzoda, S and Lopez-Ridaura, S and Coffey, S and Kam, S P and Win, S S and Praneetvatakul, S and Maraseni, T and Touch, V and Liang, W and Saharawat, Y S and Timsina, J (2021) Response and resilience of Asian agrifood systems to COVID-19: An assessment across twenty-five countries and four regional farming and food systems. Agricultural Systems (TSI), 193. pp. 1-19. ISSN 0308-521X