COVID Effects on Farmers

By Madison Echlin
Purpose for this research topic
- I have done my own research on COVID’s
effects on local farmers
- My family was new to the community right
before COVID
My Research
- Interviewed community members and tried to understand the extent to which local
farmers were affected by COVID
- Surprising
- Effects of COVID centered around an increase in demand rather than supply chain issues -
“Everybody freaked out like the world was coming to an end… the whole homesteading
thing exploded. So much so that [seed distributors] stopped sales to non-commercial
orders.”
- COVID actually helped some local farmers - more sales
- Expected
- “Some were badly impacted by farmers markets closing down or limiting people…. there's
probably a percentage that failed….”
- “A lot of farmers got business the first year of covid, but the second year it was gone. If
people were home and had more time…they were more likely to look for local farms. But
now they are back at work and they can just stop at the grocery store on the way home.”
An increase in demand → an increase in production, but the drastic decrease →
overproduction and food waste
Why is my past research helpful?
- This past research helped me to know where
to start for this project
- A better understanding of the community means I
know what to look for
- Also I was able to save time on researching
terms and processes because I was already
familiar with most I came across (e.g.
“smallholder”, “dry farming” vs “irrigation
farming”, what Michigan's farmers market
restrictions were…)
Research thus far…
- Many resources cover small areas or small amounts of people and usually were
only able to conduct surveys - since this research was done during COVID and
farmers aren’t exactly the easiest people to get ahold of (speaking from my own
experience too)
- I’ll have to include many resources that cover small areas and put them all
together to see trends in response and adaptations - so far many of the resources
have shown similar, if not the same, overarching problems and solutions - with
some outliers
- Also given COVID is a recent and continuing event - there is very little published
specifically about how farmers have been affected - a lot of resources cover how
the market as a whole was affected and only reference the farmers in terms of
economic or distribution problems
Resources…
Perceived effects of COVID-19 restrictions on
smallholder farmers
- 9201 interviews with smallholder farmers in
seven countries
- Severe containment measures: ½ to ¾
reported losses, 80% had to reduce
consumption/variety
- Relaxed containment: 20% reported negative
outcomes
- 30-90% of households developed coping
mechanisms in response to the pandemic
- Almost complete absence of official aid
amongst interviewed
- Outcome: balance btwn containment and
wellbeing
Resources…
Effects of Covid-19 pandemic on
agri-food production and farmers
- Conducted in Konya, Turkey
- Provides tables with breakdown of
sociodemographic characteristics
of agricultural laborers and effects
COVID had on production
activities - also broken down by
agricultural sector - also shows
worries broken down by economic
standing
Cognitive theory of stress and farmer’s responses
to the COVID 19 shock; a model to assess coping
behaviors with stress among farmers in southern
Iran
- Helped to understand coping mechanisms
and overall collective feelings within Iran
about COVID, about farming during
COVID, and how the country was handling
things for agriculturalists
- This study would help to implement health
and social programs and policies in
agricultural communities to help get
through the pandemic or future pandemics
Resources…
Adaptation Strategies of Small-Scale Farmers to Challenges of
COVID-19 Pandemic in Osun State, Nigeria
- Itemized types of crops grown, assessed the challenges,
examined the perceived effects of challenges, and
investigated the adaptation strategies employed
- Lockdown led to poor health, less transport for produce,
high cost/no access to production materials, poor
marketing of produce, decrease in income, labor
shortage
- Led to: planting available grains instead of seeds,
reduced food consumption, increase use of family labor
- Significant factors influencing adaptation strategies:
education, marital status, non-farm income, years of
experience
Effects of COVID-19 on Coffee Market
Participation of Smallholder Coffee
Producers’ in Godere District,
Southwestern Ethiopia
- Market participation was reduced
from 100% to 81.25% - 18.75%
producers failed to participate in the
market because of COVID’s effects
(mainly smallholders were affected)
- Stakeholders in the sector were not
well subsidized to recover from the
depression
- Most farmers were not receiving
financial aid to decrease the impact
on their livelihoods
Going forward…
- I plan to collect more resources to try to be the most inclusive I can
- I also do not plan on including my own research so I would like to find a source
that hits closer to home (most resources have covered other countries: Ethiopia,
Nigeria, Turkey, Iran, Vietnam, Zambia, Uganda… but not the U.S.)
- I also plan on cross-examining all of the tables to see any overarching trends in
socioeconomic status, overall troubles, and how strict the COVID precautions are
in each area and how that corresponds to impact on the farmers (this was touched
on in one of the resources, but I’d like to see if it matches up in all of the articles)
- Also what is the difference between effects on smallholders and large scale
farmers
Resources
Bolarin, Olufemi, et al. “Adaptation Strategies of Small-Scale Farmers to Challenges of COVID-19 Pandemic in Osun
State, Nigeria.” Scientific Journal of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) - Problems of World
Agriculture / Problemy Rolnictwa Światowego, vol. 22, no. 1, Jan. 2022, pp. 4–16.

Hammond, James, et al. “Perceived Effects of COVID-19 Restrictions on Smallholder Farmers: Evidence from Seven
Lower- and Middle-Income Countries.” Agricultural Systems, vol. 198, Apr. 2022.

Kabeta, Temesgen, and Mabiratu Dangia. “Effects of COVID-19 on Coffee Market Participation of Smallholder Coffee
Producers’ in Godere District, Southwestern Ethiopia.” Advances in Agriculture, May 2022, pp. 1–10.

UĞUR, Atnan, and Tuğba BURUKLAR. “Effects of Covid-19 Pandemic on Agri-Food Production and Farmers.” Food
Science and Technology, vol. 42, Jan. 2022.

Yazdanpanah, Masoud, et al. “Cognitive Theory of Stress and Farmers’ Responses to the COVID 19 Shock; a Model to
Assess Coping Behaviors with Stress among Farmers in Southern Iran.” International Journal of Disaster Risk
Reduction, vol. 64, Oct. 2021.