Response and resilience of Asian agrifood systems to COVID-19: An assessment across twenty-five countries and four regional farming and food systems
Dixon J.M. Weerahewa J. Hellin J. Rola-Rubzen M.F. Huang J. Kumar S. 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.-L. Saharawat Y.S. Timsina J.
October 2021Elsevier Ltd
Agricultural Systems
2021#193
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.
Agrifood-systems , COVID-19 , Gender , Markets , Policy , Resilience
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Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Department of Agricultural Economics and Business Management, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Sustainable Impact Platform, International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines
School of Agriculture and Environment, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Peking University, Beijing, China
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Indian Council of Agricultural Research Research Complex for North-Eastern Hill Region, Tripura, India
Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Sustainable Agricultural Development and Food Security, Amman, Jordan
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, New Delhi, India
Department of Agronomy, Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, United States
Food and Agriculture Organisation, Islamabad, Pakistan
Kyrgyz National Agrarian University, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Kazakh Research Institute of Agriculture and Plant Growing, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Regional Office for Central Asia and the South Caucasus, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Uzbekistan
Institute for Study and Development Worldwide, Sydney, Australia
University of the Philippines Mindanao, Davao City, Philippines
Nusa Cendana University, Kupang, Indonesia
International Center for Research and Education in Agriculture, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
WorldFish, Batu Maung, Penang, Malaysia
Alliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Vientiane, Laos
School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom
Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China
Agricultural Economics Division, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh
World Vegetable Center, East and Southeast Asia, Kasetsart, Bangkok, Thailand
International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
The Tajik Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, El Batan, Mexico
Crawford Fund, Canberra, Australia
18, Lorong Geh Chong Keat, Tanjung Bungah, Penang, 11200, Malaysia
Department of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, Yezin, Myanmar
Faculty of Economics, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand
University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia
University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, Hebei, China
International Fertilizer Development Centre, New Delhi, India
Global Evergreening Alliance, Melbourne, Australia
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Australian National University
Department of Agricultural Economics and Business Management
Sustainable Impact Platform
School of Agriculture and Environment
Peking University
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
Indian Council of Agricultural Research Research Complex for North-Eastern Hill Region
Fenner School of Environment & Society
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
Sustainable Agricultural Development and Food Security
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
Department of Agronomy
Food and Agriculture Organisation
Kyrgyz National Agrarian University
Kazakh Research Institute of Agriculture and Plant Growing
Regional Office for Central Asia and the South Caucasus
Institute for Study and Development Worldwide
University of the Philippines Mindanao
Nusa Cendana University
International Center for Research and Education in Agriculture
WorldFish
Alliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture
School of Life Sciences
Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
Gansu Agricultural University
Agricultural Economics Division
World Vegetable Center
International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas
The Tajik Academy of Agricultural Sciences
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
Crawford Fund
18
Department of Agricultural Research
Faculty of Economics
University of Southern Queensland
University of Sydney
Hebei Agricultural University
International Fertilizer Development Centre
Global Evergreening Alliance
University of Queensland
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