COVID-19 and its Impacts on Local Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods

9 February 2022. Across the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe disruptions to agri-food systems. With border closures and movement restrictions imposed by governments to curb the spread of the virus, access to markets and trading were interrupted, thereby affecting the livelihoods, health, and well-being of hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa who rely on these activities to survive.

During 2020-21, with support of the UK Foreign, Development and Commonwealth Officer (FCDO)/UKAid, APRA researchers conducted a series of studies to examine how responses to the crisis were affecting local food systems, value chains, and rural livelihoods across the region. 

The central research question was: 

How has the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted farming and domestic activities, health and human welfare, and agricultural markets and value chains, and what can we learn from this crisis to respond to major shocks and stresses in future?