A Decline In Farmers Since the Start of the Pandemic

In a report created by Essential Food Pricing Monitoring has stated that a number of farmers in South Africa seem to be declining. This is due to the impact of the Covid -19 pandemic on food markets in the country.

The report also stated that small-scale and emerging farmers were particularly hit hard by poor yields, low productivity, and struggled to grow their operations. Part of the obstacles includes access to finance, infrastructure also routes to the market.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic there has been a global trend towards the localization of farming and shorter supply chains the report also added. Customers are increasingly buying local because of climate and environmental concerns, food safety, quality and logistical considerations. This trend could favour small scale and urban farming operations especially since shorter supply chains can save transport and other costs.

According to the report, there have been clear price increases for products such as potatoes, tomatoes and cooking oil, though these were not linked to the progression of the pandemic  rather, increased frequency in extreme weather events likely drove high food price inflation.

Done by Lucille Dyosi