Equitable support for livelihoods and food

Food systems and farming were under increased pressure

Production and access to food were affected by the pandemic and the responses to it, resulting in increased pressure for food systems and farming (Salik 2021; HLPE 2021). Overlapping and reinforcing dynamics emerged that affected food systems, food security and nutrition over the course of the pandemic, including ‘disruptions to food supply chains; loss of income and livelihoods; a widening of social inequalities; disruptions to social protection programmes; altered food environments; and higher and more uneven food prices’ (HLPE 2021: 3). The pandemic exposed the fragilities in the food system, including ‘rigid supply chains, a lack of protections and rights of food system workers, a lack of diversity in terms of production, distribution and trade channels, and food system concentration’ (ibid.: 12).

‘As food demand contracted due to declining incomes, food producers’ and food systems workers’ livelihoods were further affected: six months into the pandemic, food systems were estimated to lose 451 million jobs, or 35 per cent of their formal employment’ (HLPE 2021: 5). In Pakistan, smallholder farmers were especially affected by reduced incomes and livelihood assets, and increasing indebtedness, particularly as the costs of seeds, fertiliser and other farm inputs increased (Salik 2021). Traders and exporters were negatively affected due to restricted transport and the lack of labour (Salik 2021). Lack of storage for commodities meant that restrictions on movement were particularly problematic for perishable goods (Salik 2021). In Peru, food market vendors struggled to keep their businesses afloat, while in Tunisia women working in agriculture lost their incomes as they were unable to sell their produce due to the closure of food stalls (Alcázar and Fort 2022; Bajec 2020; Bolton and Georgalakis 2022).

High levels of informality contributed to greater loss of livelihoods and food insecurity

People working in the informal sector were more likely to lose their jobs than those in the formal sector during the pandemic (Rohwerder 2020; FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises 2021). Migrant informal workers experienced even greater restrictions and hardship than local informal workers (Ismail and Valdivia 2021; Juárez Padilla et al. 2021). A lack of social protection coverage for informal workers increased their poverty and food insecurity (FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises 2021). This was also the case for smallholder farmers and agricultural workers, fishers, and pastoralists in rural areas who tended to have no access to income insurance when their livelihoods were disrupted by lockdowns (Rohwerder 2020).

Research in Latin America noted that the high level of informality in Latin American labour markets ‘accelerated the shrinkage of household incomes during the pandemic, jeopardising food security for the poor and marginalised’ (Thompson et al. 2021: 3). More than 80 per cent of workers in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan are in the informal sector and highly vulnerable to pandemic-induced shocks, which left them without income or access to social protection (Javed, Ahmed and Cheema 2021).

Marginalised people were hit hardest by the loss of livelihoods and food insecurity

The Covid-19 pandemic hit poor and marginalised people the hardest (Alston 2020; Juárez Padilla et al. 2021). The economic shocks of the pandemic pushed many more people into poverty and contributed to food insecurity as it led to loss of livelihoods and a sharp reduction in households’ capacity to purchase sufficient food, both in terms of quantity and quality (FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises 2021; Rohwerder 2020). ‘Strategies to reduce Covid-19 transmission upset the production, transport, access and availability of nutritious, fresh and affordable foods, and reduced incomes, forcing millions of vulnerable families to rely on processed foods and nutrient-poor staples’ (FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises 2021: 24).

Poverty and food insecurity ‘affected girls and women disproportionately across the world, as they were hardest hit by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on livelihoods, income and access to nutritious food’ (FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises 2023: 23; Rohwerder 2020). Research across 10 Latin America countries found that the share of households whose income had decreased was highest among women-led households in all countries (Thompson et al. 2021). In informal settlements in Nairobi during the first phase of the pandemic, more women reported skipping meals than men (77 per cent versus 68 per cent) (Population Council 2020). Women are more likely to work in the informal economy and be employed in economic sectors most affected by the pandemic, as well as having to take on increased domestic responsibilities, so were more likely to lose their livelihoods and fall into poverty, with knock- on effects on their food security (Thompson et al. 2021; FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises 2021; Javed et al. 2021; Mutambala 2021; Juárez Padilla et al. 2021).

Social protection systems struggled to cope

Existing social protection systems did not cover the needs of many of those most affected by the lockdowns and other economic impacts of the pandemic (Al Shami 2021; Rohwerder 2020). The pandemic exacerbated pre-existing weaknesses in social protection systems in all regions (Bolton and Georgalakis 2022; Al Shami 2021). Informal workers were often excluded from social protection systems, and often had little savings to rely on when forced to stay home over lockdowns (FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises 2021; Al Shami 2021; Rohwerder 2020; WIEGO 2020). They were the most excluded from the coverage of Covid-19 cash transfer programmes, and the implementation of the fiscal policies that mostly applied to the formal sector (Mutambala 2021).

Households engaged in negative coping mechanisms

To compensate for loss of incomes during the pandemic, households adopted coping strategies that could compromise their recovery capacity, such as selling assets or getting into debt (Thompson et al. 2021; Alfers, Ismail and Valdivia 2020). Households also reduced their food intake and/or reduced the amount of nutritious food they ate to cope with losses of income and increased food prices, which can have longer-term impacts on their nutritional outcomes (Thompson et al. 2021; FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises 2021; HLPE 2021). The loss of livelihoods, and exhaustion of resources, created conditions for exploitation and abuse such as cases of transactional sex, early marriage, child labour, and human trafficking (Global Protection Cluster 2020).