1
|
Durant JL, Asprooth L, Galt RE, Schmulevich SP, Manser GM, Pinzón N. Farm resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of California direct market farmers. AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS 2023; 204:103532. [PMID: 36249876 PMCID: PMC9550669 DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2022.103532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2022] [Revised: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant shocks to U.S. food systems at multiple scales. While disturbances to long-distance supply chains received substantial attention in national media, local supply chains experienced mixed impacts. As broad closures of schools, restaurants, and other businesses sourcing from local farmers removed key marketing channels for many direct market farmers, consumer interest in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), farmers markets, and on-farm and online direct farm sales increased. OBJECTIVE In this paper, we examine the resilience and vulnerability of farmers during the March 2020 through December 2020 period of the COVID-19 pandemic. We focus on California farmers and ranchers engaged in direct market sales. METHODS Through a widely disseminated survey, we collected responses from 364 farmers and used these data to answer the following questions about direct market farmers in California: 1) What were direct market farmers' experiences of the pandemic from March 2020 through December 2020? 2) Which factors (e.g., relationships, institutions, market channels) did farmers report enhanced their resilience during the pandemic? 3) Which individual and operational factors were significantly associated with resilience during the pandemic? And finally, 4) how do the farmer-reported factors compare to the statistically significant factors associated with resilience? We created three dependent variables-ability to respond to the pandemic, concern about pandemic impacts, and change in profitability-to operationalize several aspects of resilience and examine their association with individual and operational characteristics through a series of ordered logistic regression models. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Across both the quantitative models and the farmer reported factors, we found that farmers who increased their use of online sales and marketing during the first year of the pandemic, had larger-scale farms, and had more on-farm crop and livestock diversity were more resilient to the shocks of the pandemic. We also found that greater use of non-direct-to-consumer market channels was associated with less resilience. The characteristics of the farming operations played a relatively larger role in predicting resilience compared to the individual characteristics of the farmers surveyed. SIGNIFICANCE This study gives a detailed picture of how California direct market farmers fared during the pandemic and the characteristics associated with greater resilience. As short and long-term disruptions become increasingly common in agriculture, policies and programs can leverage support to direct market farmers, particularly direct-to-consumer farmers, as a strategy to strengthen farmer resilience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jennie L Durant
- Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, 272 Onyx Bridge, 5289, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-5289, USA
| | - Lauren Asprooth
- Geography Graduate Group, University of California, 129 Hunt Hall, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Ryan E Galt
- Geography Graduate Group, University of California, 129 Hunt Hall, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
- Agricultural Sustainability Institute, University of California, 143 Robbins Hall, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Sasha Pesci Schmulevich
- Geography Graduate Group, University of California, 129 Hunt Hall, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Gwyneth M Manser
- Geography Graduate Group, University of California, 129 Hunt Hall, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Natalia Pinzón
- Geography Graduate Group, University of California, 129 Hunt Hall, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Merchant EV, Fatima T, Fatima A, Maiyo N, Mutuku V, Keino S, Simon JE, Hoffman DJ, Downs SM. The Influence of Food Environments on Food Security Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Examination of Urban and Rural Difference in Kenya. Nutrients 2022; 14:2939. [PMID: 35889896 PMCID: PMC9322483 DOI: 10.3390/nu14142939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Revised: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Hunger and food insecurity has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The types of food environments (e.g., natural/built) that people can access may improve household resilience to food-system shocks. This paper examines (1) urban and rural differences in the perceived influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural, livelihoods, food environment attributes, diets; and (2) whether access to different food environments was associated with food security. A two-part telephonic survey (COVID-19 Surveillance Community Action Network Food Systems Tool and Household Food Insecurity Access Scale) was conducted in Western Kenya (n = 173) and an informal settlement in Nairobi (n = 144) in January/February 2021. Limitations on the acquisition of farm inputs and movement restrictions had an adverse impact on agriculture and food sales. Urban residents reported a more significant impact on livelihoods (97% vs. 87%, p < 0.001), with day laborers being the most impacted. Rural respondents reported access to significantly more food environments and lower food insecurity. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that younger respondents, ≤1 income source, had more difficulty acquiring food, decreased access to cultivated environments, and increased access to informal markets were predictors for higher food insecurity. These data indicate that access to specific types of food environments may improve household resilience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emily V. Merchant
- New Use Agriculture and Natural Plant Products Program, Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA; (E.V.M.); (J.E.S.)
- Center for Agricultural Food Ecosystems, The New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA;
| | - Tasneem Fatima
- Urban-Global Public Health, Rutgers School of Public Health, Newark, NJ 07102, USA; (T.F.); (A.F.)
| | - Alisa Fatima
- Urban-Global Public Health, Rutgers School of Public Health, Newark, NJ 07102, USA; (T.F.); (A.F.)
| | - Norah Maiyo
- Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH), Eldoret 30100, Kenya;
| | | | - Susan Keino
- Department of Health Management & Human Nutrition, School of Public Health, Moi University, P.O. Box 4606, Eldoret 30100, Kenya;
| | - James E. Simon
- New Use Agriculture and Natural Plant Products Program, Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA; (E.V.M.); (J.E.S.)
- Center for Agricultural Food Ecosystems, The New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA;
| | - Daniel J. Hoffman
- Center for Agricultural Food Ecosystems, The New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA;
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, Center for Childhood Nutrition Education and Research, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
| | - Shauna M. Downs
- Center for Agricultural Food Ecosystems, The New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA;
- Urban-Global Public Health, Rutgers School of Public Health, Newark, NJ 07102, USA; (T.F.); (A.F.)
| |
Collapse
|