Response and resilience of Asian agrifood systems to COVID-19: an assessment across twenty-five countries and four regional farming and food systems
Article
Article Title | Response and resilience of Asian agrifood systems to COVID-19: an assessment across twenty-five countries and four regional farming and food systems |
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ERA Journal ID | 5173 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Dixon, John M. (Author), Weerahewa, Jeevika (Author), Hellin, Jon (Author), Rola-Rubzen, Maria Fay (Author), Huang, Jikun (Author), Kumar, Shalander (Author), Das, Anup (Author), Qureshi, Muhammad Ejaz (Author), Krupnik, Timothy J. (Author), Shideed, Kamil (Author), Jat, Mangi L. (Author), Prasad, P. V. Vara (Author), Yadav, Sudhir (Author), Irshad, Aamer (Author), Asanaliev, Abdybek (Author), Abugalieva, Aigul (Author), Karimov, Aziz (Author), Bhattarai, Basundhara (Author), Balgos, Carol Q. (Author), Benu, Fred (Author), Ehara, Hiroshi (Author), Pant, Jharendu (Author), Sarmiento, Jon M. P. (Author), Newby, Jonathan C. (Author), Pretty, Jules (Author), Tokuda, Hiromi (Author), Weyerhaeuser, Horst (Author), Digal, Larry N. (Author), Li, Lingling (Author), Sarkar, Md. Abdur Rouf (Author), Abedin, Md. Zihadul (Author), Schreinemachers, Pepijn (Author), Grafton, Quentin (Author), Sharma, Ram C. (Author), Saidzoda, Saidjamol (Author), Lopez-Ridaura, Santiago (Author), Coffey, Shaun (Author), Kam, Suan Pheng (Author), Win, Su Su (Author), Praneetvatakul, Suwanna (Author), Maraseni, Tek (Author), Touch, Van (Author), Liang, Wei-li (Author), Saharawat, Yashpan Singh (Author) and Timsina, Jagdish (Author) |
Journal Title | Agricultural Systems |
Journal Citation | 193, pp. 1-19 |
Article Number | 103168 |
Number of Pages | 19 |
Year | 2021 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Place of Publication | Netherlands |
ISSN | 0308-521X |
1873-2267 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103168 |
Web Address (URL) | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X21001219 |
Abstract | 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 sustain-ability 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. |
Keywords | resilience; agrifood-systems; COVID-19; gender; markets; policy |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 300202. Agricultural land management |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
Byline Affiliations | Australian National University |
University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka | |
International Rice Research Institute, Philippines | |
University of Western Australia | |
Peking University, China | |
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), India | |
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, India | |
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Bangladesh | |
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Italy | |
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, India | |
Kansas State University, United States | |
Kyrgyz National Agrarian University, Kyrgyzstan | |
Kazakh Research Institute of Agriculture and Plant Growing, Kazakhstan | |
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Uzbekistan | |
Institute for Study and Development Worldwide (IFSD), Australia | |
University of the Philippines | |
University of Nusa Cendana, Indonesia | |
Nagoya University, Japan | |
WorldFish, Malaysia | |
Alliance Biodiversity International, Laos | |
University of Essex, United Kingdom | |
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Thailand | |
Gansu Agricultural University, China | |
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Bangladesh | |
World Vegetable Center, Thailand | |
International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas, Uzbekistan | |
Tajik Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Tajikistan | |
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Mexico | |
Crawford Fund, Australia | |
No affiliation | |
Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Irrigation, Myanmar | |
Kasetsart University, Thailand | |
Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Systems | |
University of Sydney | |
Hebei Agricultural University, China | |
International Fertilizer Development Centre, India | |
Global Evergreening Alliance, Australia |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q6722/response-and-resilience-of-asian-agrifood-systems-to-covid-19-an-assessment-across-twenty-five-countries-and-four-regional-farming-and-food-systems
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