Linda Etale and Ranjitha Puskur
“I planted papayas on 5 kert (1.25ha) and lost the entire produce to flooding. Then I planted tomatoes. COVID-19 came…I lost income during the state of emergency because there was no transport.”
A woman farmer in Ethiopia
African and Asian countries were already grappling with extreme weather events when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. For instance, floods and droughts in Niger caused a 12% decline in cereal production in 2019-20. Drought and flooding in 2019 in Zambia resulted in poor harvests of staple crops, like maize, leaving 1.7 million Zambians (18% of the total population) severely food insecure. When governments worldwide put in place restrictive measures such as lockdowns, curfews, and, border closures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, in many contexts, these also affected the agricultural activities of women.
This is particularly true in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia where 60% and 43% of women, respectively, depend on agriculture for their livelihood and income. Under adverse situations, women experience immense pressure to provide food, water, and other necessities to their household members. During and after these events, agricultural supply chains are disrupted. Produce losses, labor and transport unavailability contribute to higher food prices. Similar challenges were experienced by women during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The restrictive measures affected labor availability according to a woman farmer in Senegal:
“…workers from Guinea Bissau, Gambia, and other countries were not available due to travel restrictions and affected the labor we could hire. This led to a reduction in the areas planted and yields”.
Women growing perishables, such as vegetables and fruits, experienced challenges in…