Growing and Eating Food during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Farmers’ Perspectives on Local Food System Resilience to Shocks in Southern Africa and Indonesia

Nicole Paganini, Kustiwa Adinata, Nomonde Buthelezi, David Harris, Stefanie Lemke, Alberto Luis, Jennifer Koppelin, Abdulrazak Karriem, Fezile Ncube, Enzo Nervi Aguirre, Tandu Ramba, Inês Raimundo, Nedim Sulejmanović, Haidee Swanby, Daniel Tevera and Silke Stöber
Additional contact information
Nicole Paganini: Centre for Rural Development (SLE), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Kustiwa Adinata: Indonesian Farmers Community Network (JAMTANI), Jawa Barat 4037, Indonesia
Nomonde Buthelezi: Cape Town Research Farmer Club, Cape Town, South Africa
David Harris: Pusbinlat Motivator—GT, Sangalla’, Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Stefanie Lemke: Societal Transition and Agriculture, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Alberto Luis: Associação pela Agricultura Biológica, Biodiversidade e Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Maputo, Mozambique
Jennifer Koppelin: Centre for Rural Development (SLE), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Abdulrazak Karriem: Institute for Social Development, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
Fezile Ncube: Hope Tariro Trust, Masvingo, Zimbabwe
Enzo Nervi Aguirre: Development Practice, University of California—Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Tandu Ramba: Pusbinlat Motivator—GT, Sangalla’, Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Inês Raimundo: Center for Policy Analysis and Department of Geography, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo 3453, Mozambique
Nedim Sulejmanović: Centre for Rural Development (SLE), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Haidee Swanby: Critical Food Studies, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
Daniel Tevera: Department of Geography, Environmental Studies and Tourism, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
Silke Stöber: Centre for Rural Development (SLE), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-26

Abstract: The COVID-19 outbreak forced governments to make decisions that had adverse effects on local food systems and supply chains. As a result, many small-scale food producers faced difficulties growing, harvesting, and selling their goods. This participatory research examines local small-scale farmers’ challenges as farmers but also as consumers and their coping strategies during the month of April and one week in June 2020. The study was initiated and conceptualized in collaboration with small-scale farmer members of an existing research network in selected urban and rural areas in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Indonesia. Participants co-designed the research, collected and uploaded data through digital survey tools, and contributed to data analysis and interpretation. A common observation across regions is that the measures imposed in response to COVID-19 highlighted and partly exacerbated existing socio-economic inequalities among food system actors. Strict lockdowns in Cape Town, South Africa, and Masvingo, Zimbabwe, significantly restricted the production capacity of small-scale farmers in the informal economy and created more food insecurity for them. In Maputo, Mozambique, and Toraja and Java, Indonesia, local food systems continued to operate and were even strengthened by higher social capital and adaptive capacities.

Keywords: COVID-19; pandemic; lockdown; small-scale farmers; local food systems; resilience; Indonesia; Mozambique; South Africa; Zimbabwe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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