Managing food supply chain amid COVID-19: Insights from global efforts

Abstract

Maintaining food supply is usually most challenging for governments during crises and disasters such as COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, how different countries face and counter such challenges can provide us with useful insights for the timely and appropriate measures. Globally, COVID-19 has certain implications on food security and food supply chains such as availability of labour and transport, spread of wrong signals about food shortages, and contamination of food (from the virus) thus leading to hoarding and bulk purchase. Likewise, lockdown situations or strict implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) may cause food price hike, and undermine the negotiating power of farmers and consumers. This is particularly true for countries where people are living in dense urban and peri-urban agglomerations and relay on transitional food supply chains. However, with some measures that are adopted and practiced globally helped minimize the impact of COVID-19 on food security and supply chains.