COVID-19
Our work during the pandemic and what we learned from it.
Smallholder coffee farming families have been specifically challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns. They experienced food insecurity due to limited access to goods and price increases. Transportation stopped, leading to reduced availability of workforce and inputs like seedlings or fertilizers. And - if available at all - inputs became more expensive, lowering the farmers’ earnings from coffee sales.
The pandemic exacerbated the farmers' vulnerability
The pandemic placed additional pressure on a livelihood situation that is already vulnerable to
- low availability of expertise and support services
- effects of climate change
- damages caused by pests and diseases
- therefore low productivity levels
- difficult access to the market
- price volatility.
Example of Uganda (Source: UCDA)
Transport costs doubled during the lockdown. One reason was that vehicle capacities were restricted to half of the passengers.
The number of farmers receiving credit fell from 27 % to 14 %. Reasons were increasing interest rates and the farmers’ limited ability to move to the lending institutions.
Robusta coffee growers generated 20 % less profits during the pandemic. This was due to a significant reduction in yield enhancing inputs and the limited access to extension services
Farmers in ICP projects were more resilient
It was observed during and after the pandemic that coffee farming families who participated in ICP projects were well able to react to and mitigate challenges posed by the pandemic. Obviously, certain aspects of the approach of ICP helped them to alleviate their situation.
What are the reasons?
Farmer communities are best prepared for crises if they are strengthened on different levels. ICP's approach includes all the different aspects of their realities:
- Diversified crop cultivation can prevent families from food insecurity.
- Joining farmer organizations helps farmers to organize themselves and support each other also in terms of market access.
- Sustainable and innovative agronomical strategies and techniques can make farmers more independent from inputs and increase productivity.
- Training in gender equality helps to balance unequal power levels and better distribute responsibilities and tasks.
- Intergenerational family businesses with youth participating and evenly distributed tasks provide for constant workforce availability and continuity in farm management.
- Digitalization made it easy to continue the communication with households and farmer organizations.
"During the complete lockdown, public transport was suspended and a curfew in place. We supported the farmers by translating information on COVID-19 into local languages and disseminating them. We provided technical advice and created awareness of Covid-19 through phone calls, local radio stations, and bulk SMS platforms. We encouraged farmers to harvest and store available rainwater. And we advised them to plant quick maturing food crops that can meet their family's needs within a short time. Alongside the long-term approach of ICP, these quick measures helped the farmers to respond quickly to the challenges of the pandemic."
