Background of the study

The COVID-19 global pandemic began affecting countries in Africa and Latin America in early
2020, after spreading through East Asia, Europe, and North America. With the largest population
in Sub-Saharan Africa and long-standing travel and trade links within Africa and to the rest of
the world, the pandemic seemed unavoidable. The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has
rapidly spread around the world, threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions. Uganda
reported its first infection on March 21, 2020, prompting authorities to quickly implement
various measures to halt the spread of the epidemic following the closure of educational
institutions. Given that the disease is highly contagious, the much-needed nationwide lockdown
was enforced starting on 18 May 2020 to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. During
the initial few weeks, the restrictions were strict and all non-essential activities and businesses,
including retail establishments, and places of religious worship, across the country were
prohibited from operating. Subsequently, these restrictions are being gradually eased in a phased
manner in most parts of the country.

Just as the physical symptoms of the virus differ from person to person, emerging data on the
pandemic's economic and social impacts show significant differences in impacts across
socioeconomic groups, genders, occupations, regions, and countries (Bene et al, 2020; Egger et
al., 2021; Bundervoet et al., 2021). The impact of the pandemic on rural people is an important
but underappreciated aspect of the pandemic. During the early stages of the crisis, some
predicted that rural areas would be spared the worst effects because lockdown measures were
primarily focused on urban areas and food and agriculture-related activities were generally
exempted (The Economist 2020; Reardon 2020). As the restrictions imposed due to the
lockdown are being lifted, it is an opportune moment to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on
different sectors of the economy. Several reports have pointed towards the possibility of
contraction of Indian GDP in 2020-21. This is a worrisome indication since a higher GDP
contributes immensely towards achieving better living standards, reduced poverty as well as
improvement in other socio-economic indicators. While other sectors are reported to be under
significant stress, it is important to analyze the impact on agricultural and allied sectors which
provide the likelihood to most of the Ugandan population.
The arrival of the pandemic set off a chain of policy actions, including public health and
education campaigns, fiscal and monetary measures, restrictions on large sections of the
economy, and compensating measures in the form of social protection for poor and vulnerable
people (Onyekwena and Amara Mma, 2020). The sudden onset of the pandemic and the scale of
policy responses imposed significant economic costs on Uganda's population, but the nature of
the impacts on food systems and the poor remains unclear. However, as the pandemic persists
and new evidence emerges, it is becoming clear that rural spaces, including those in developing
countries, are experiencing substantial economic hardship because of the pandemic (Egger et al
2021; Bundervoet et al., 2021; Bene et al, 2021; Josephson et al. 2020;). In addition, the
economic impacts are assessed in terms of their effects on national gross domestic product
(GDP), agri-food system GDP, and the number of people living below the international
US$1.90-a-day poverty line.