Differing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on farmers and intermediaries: insights into the Ecuadorian cocoa value chain

Agricultural and Food Economics - Tập 12 - Trang 1-23 - 2024
Guillermo Zambrano1, Lina M. Tennhardt2,3, Moritz Egger2, Karen Ramírez1, Adriana Santos1, Byron Moyano1, Michael Curran2
1Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Guayaquil, Ecuador
2Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland
3Georges Lemaître Earth and Climate Research Centre, Earth, and Life Institute, University of Louvain, Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Tóm tắt

The COVID-19 pandemic generated diverse impacts and responses in agricultural value chains worldwide. Cocoa is a key crop for Ecuadorian exports, and the analysis of effects the pandemic had on value chain actors contributes to the understanding of their individual capacities to coping with a major shock. The purpose of this study was to assess the number and severity of impacts and responses implemented by two links in the cocoa value chain to the pandemic, based on a survey of 158 cocoa farmers and 52 cocoa intermediaries from the main cocoa-producing provinces of the northern coast of Ecuador in 2021. Surveyed farmers and part of the intermediaries form part of the sustainability program of a large Swiss chocolate manufacturer. The impacts and responses reported were grouped into seven resources according to the Activity System Approach. Then, a comparison between groups was applied using the Wilcoxon rank sum test for nonparametric data, determining the most severe impacts and effective resilience responses among the actors. The results reveal that farmers and intermediaries were similarly affected by the pandemic, reporting 21 and 16 negative impacts, respectively. Farmers experienced a higher number and severity of impacts on financial and social resources, while intermediaries on human and material resources. The strongest impact was the loss of sales, reported by 65% of farmers and 58% of intermediaries. Farmers implemented more social responses that they judged highly effective, while intermediaries implemented more human responses that they judged highly effective. Public policy should enhance the social resources of farmers by strengthening their associativity and the capacities of their members, as mechanisms to mitigate their vulnerability to future health and climate crises. The financial resources of both actors should be protected through public credit and agricultural insurance.

Tài liệu tham khảo

Abad A, Acuña C, Naranjo E (2020) El cacao en la Costa ecuatoriana: estudio de su dimensión cultural y económica. Estud La Gestión REv Int Adm 7:59–83. https://doi.org/10.32719/25506641.2020.7.3 Aboah J, Wilson M, Rich K, Lyne M (2019) Operationalising resilience in tropical agricultural value chains. Supply Chain Manag 24:271–300. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-05-2018-0204 Aboah J, Wilson M, Bicknell K, Rich K (2021) Ex-ante impact of on-farm diversification and forward integration on agricultural value chain resilience: a system dynamics approach. Agric Syst 189:103043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.103043 Acosta A (2012) Breve historia económica del Ecuador, Tercera ed. Corporación Editora Nacional, Quito Adobor H (2020) Supply chain resilience: an adaptive cycle approach. Int J Logist Manag 31:443–463. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-01-2020-0019 Alam MJ, Kabir ANMF, Mastura T et al (2023) The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vegetable farmers in Bangladesh. Cogent Food Agric 9:2214432. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2023.2214432 Alava JJ, Guevara A (2021) A critical narrative of Ecuador’s preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Public Heal Pract 2:3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhip.2021.100127 Parlamento Andino (2021) Principales medidas adoptadas por el gobierno ecuatoriano frente a la emergencia provocada por la COVID-19 Angaw KW (2021) Policy responses and social solidarity imperatives to respond the covid-19 pandemic socioeconomic crises in Ethiopia. Clin Outcomes Res 13:279–287. https://doi.org/10.2147/CEOR.S300695 Ansah I, Gardebroek C, Ihle R (2019) Resilience and household food security: a review of concepts, methodological approaches and empirical evidence. Food Secur 11:1187–1203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-019-00968-1 Arita S, Grant J, Sydow S, Beckman J (2022) Has global agricultural trade been resilient under coronavirus (COVID-19)? Findings from an econometric assessment of 2020. Food Policy 107:102204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102204 Arvelo MA, Delgado T, Maroto S et al (2016) Estado actual sobre la producción y el comercio del cacao en América. Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA), San José Avadí A (2023) Environmental assessment of the Ecuadorian cocoa value chain with statistics-based LCA. Int J Life Cycle Assess 28:1495–1515. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02142-4 Avadí A, Blockeel J, Temple L, Salgado V (2021) Análisis de la cadena de valor del cacao en Ecuador. Reporte para la Unión Europea, DG-INTPA. Value Chain Analysis for Development Project (VCA4D CTR 2016/375–804) Barrera V, Alwang J, Casanova T, et al (2018) La cadena de valor del cacao y el bienestar de los productores en la provincia de Manabí-Ecuador, Libro técn. ARCOIRIS Producciones Gráficas, Quito Béné C (2020) Resilience of local food systems and links to food security - a review of some important concepts in the context of COVID-19 and other shocks. Food Secur 12:805–822. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-020-01076-1 Béné C, Doyen L (2018) From resistance to transformation: a generic metric of resilience through viability. Earth’s Futur 6:979–996. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017EF000660 Béné C, Newsham A, Davies M et al (2014) Resilience, poverty and development. J Int Dev 53:598–623. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.2992 Béné C, Bakker D, Chavarro MJ et al (2021) Global assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 on food security. Glob Food Sec 31:100575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2021.100575 Bista R, Parajuli R, Giri K et al (2022) Trees, Forests and People Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of rural households in the community forestry landscape in the Middle Hills of Nepal. Trees, for People 9:100312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2022.100312 Cabell J, Oelofse M (2012) An indicator framework for assessing agroecosystem resilience. E&S 17:8. https://doi.org/10.5751/es-04666-170118 Cadby J (2021) Can COVID-19 melt the craft chocolate industry? Food Ethics 6:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41055-021-00087-8 Clapp J, Moseley W (2020) This food crisis is different: COVID-19 and the fragility of the neoliberal food security order. J Peasant Stud 47:1393–1417. https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2020.1823838 Coral-Almeida M, Carrington SJ, Carrión-Yaguana VD, Mascialino G (2022) How not to manage a pandemic, and how to recover from it: lessons from Ecuador. Facets 7:1367–1384. https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2022-0064 Córdoba D, Peredo A, Chaves P (2021) Shaping alternatives to development: Solidarity and reciprocity in the Andes during COVID-19. World Dev 139:105323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105323 Darnhofer I (2014) Resilience and why it matters for farm management. Eur Rev Agric Econ 41:461–484. https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbu012 Darnhofer I (2020) Farm resilience in the face of the unexpected: lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. Agric Human Values 37:605–606. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10053-5 Darnhofer I (2021a) Farming resilience: from maintaining states towards shaping transformative change processes. Sustainability 13:3387. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063387 Darnhofer I (2021b) Resilience or how do we enable agricultural systems to ride the waves of unexpected change? Agric Syst 187:102997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102997 Dixon JM, Weerahewa J, Hellin J et al (2021) Response and resilience of Asian agrifood systems to COVID-19: An assessment across twenty-five countries and four regional farming and food systems. Agric Syst 193:103168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103168 Ministerio de Salud Pública de Ecuador (2022) Ecuador activa semáforo de protección COVID-19. In: Gob. la República del Ecuador. https://www.salud.gob.ec/ecuador-activa-semaforo-de-proteccion-covid-19/ Fian Ecuador, IEE, Ocaru, et al (2020) De quienes nos alimentan. Quito Fian Ecuador, IEE, Ocaru, et al (2022) La COVID-19 en la agricultura familiar campesina. Quito FAO (2020) COVID-19 and the impact on food security in the Near East and North Africa: How to respond? FAO, Cairo FAO (2021) Policy responses to COVID-19 crisis in Near East and North Africa – keeping food and agricultural systems alive. Rome FAO (2023) FAO emergencies and resilience. Accessed 12 Mar 2023 from https://www.fao.org/resilience/home/en/ FCCI (2021) Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute. Accessed 10 Jan 2022 from https://www.chocolateinstitute.org/. Folke C, Carpenter S, Walker B et al (2010) Resilience thinking: integrating resilience. Adaptab Transf E&s 15:20. https://doi.org/10.5751/es-03610-150420 Fountain A, Hütz-Adams F (2018) Barómetro del Cacao 2018 Fountain A, Hütz-Adams F (2020) Cocoa Barometer 2020 Gasselin P, Vaillant M, Bathfield B (2020) The activity system. A position paper. In: International Farming Systems Association (IFSA) (ed) European IFSA Symposium : Producing and reproducing farming systems. New modes of organisation for sustainable food systems of tomorrow. HAL open science, Vienna, p 12 Guedegbe T, Adelaja A, George J (2023) Resilience, endogenous policy responses to COVID-19, and their impacts on farm performance. World Dev 168:106254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106254 Guilcapi M (2018) Análisis del estado actual de las cadenas de café y cacao Hamidu Z, Oppong PB, Asafo-Adjei E, Adam AM (2022) On the agricultural commodities supply chain resilience to disruption: insights from financial analysis. Math Probl Eng 2022:12. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/9897765 Hammond J, Siegal K, Milner D et al (2022) Perceived effects of COVID-19 restrictions on smallholder farmers: evidence from seven lower- and middle-income countries. Agric Syst 198:103367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2022.103367 Headrick G, Ellison C, Bresnahan C et al (2022) State implementation of SNAP waivers and flexibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic: perspectives from state agency leaders. J Nutr Educ Behav 54:982–997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2022.07.009 Herrera G (2022) Migración y política migratoria en el Ecuador en el período 2000–2021. New York Holling C (1973) Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 4:1–23. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300188479-023 Hütz-Adams F, Campos P, Fountain A (2022) Cocoa Barometer: Latin American Baseline Ibarra A (2019) Análisis de la cadena de cacao en la provincia de Los Ríos, Ecuador. Obs la Econ Latinoam 1–17 ICCO (2023) Cocoa Market Reporte: June 2023 INEC (2015) Una mirada histórica a la estadística del Ecuador, First Edit. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos, Quito INEC (2023) Encuesta Nacional de Empleo, Desempleo y Subempleo - ENEMDU. Quito Ingutia R (2021) The impacts of COVID-19 and climate change on smallholders through the lens of SDGs; and ways to keep smallholders on 2030 agenda of SDGs; and ways to keep smallholders on 2030 agenda. Int J Sustain Dev World Ecol 28:693–708. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2021.1905100 ITC (2022a) List of products exported by Ecuador: 18 cocoa and preparations. In: Trade Map. Accessed 10 Nov 2022 from https://www.trademap.org/Product_SelCountry_TS.aspx?nvpm=3%7c218%7c%7c%7c%7c18%7c%7c%7c4%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c1 ITC (2022b) List of importing markets for a product exported by Ecuador: 18 cocoa and preparations. In: Trade Map. Accessed 10 Nov 2022 from https://www.trademap.org/Country_SelProductCountry_TS.aspx?nvpm=1%7c218%7c%7c%7c%7c18%7c%7c%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c2%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1 ITC (2022c) List of importing markets from European Union (EU 27) for a product exported by Ecuador: 18 cocoa and preparations. In: Trade Map. Accessed 10 Nov 2022 from https://www.trademap.org/Country_SelProductCountry_TS.aspx?nvpm=1%7c218%7c%7c%7c42%7c18%7c%7c%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c2%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1 Jacobi J, Schneider M, Bottazzi P et al (2015) Agroecosystem resilience and farmers’ perceptions of climate change impacts on cocoa farms in Alto Beni, Bolivia. Renew Agric Food Syst 30:170–183. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174217051300029X Jain V, Kumar S, Soni U, Chandra C (2017) Supply chain resilience: model development and empirical analysis. Int J Prod Res 55:6779–6800. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2017.1349947 Kaldjob M (2021) Analysis of producer resilience strategies to volatile cocoa prices in Cameroon. EA 66:17–26. https://doi.org/10.46852/0424-2513.1.2021.3 Kozicka M, Tacconi F, Horna D, Gotor E (2018) Forecasting cocoa yields for 2050. Rome Kumar S, Jolly A (2021) Consequences of COVID-19 pandemic on global maritime trade industry. Int Marit Health 72:82–83. https://doi.org/10.5603/imh.2021.0014 Kumareswaran K, Yugantha G (2022) Systematic review on ensuring the global food security and covid - 19 pandemic resilient food systems : towards accomplishing sustainable development goals targets. Discov Sustain 3:29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-022-00096-5 Lopez S, Sanders A, Barba L et al (2021) Immediate impact of COVID-19 pandemic on farming systems in Central America and Mexico. Agric Syst 192:103178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103178 MAG (2017) Caracterización del productor cacaotero. Quito MAG (2018) Rendimientos de cacao almendra seca (theobroma cacao) en el Ecuador 2017. Quito MAG (2019) Caracterización de la producción de cacao 2018. Accessed 20 Mar 2020 from http://sipa.agricultura.gob.ec/index.php/cacao/caracterizacion MAG (2022) Ficha del cultivo de cacao. In: Sist. Inf. Pública Agropecu. Accessed 9 May 2022 from http://sipa.agricultura.gob.ec/index.php/cacao MAG (2023) Boletín Situacional del Cultivo de Cacao. Quito Manda S (2023) Inside Zambia’s ‘new normal:’ COVID-19 policy responses and implications for peri-urban food security and livelihoods. J Int Dev 35:1099–1120. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3720 Mena K, Gutiérrez N (2021) Effect of covid 19 and its financial impact on exports of the cocoa sector. Rev Cienc UNEMI 14:34–44 Meuwissen M, Feindt P, Spiegel A et al (2019) A framework to assess the resilience of farming systems. Agric Syst 176:102656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2019.102656 Morales F, Carrillo M, Ferreira J et al (2018) Cadena de comercialización del cacao nacional en la provincia de Los Ríos, Ecuador. Ciencias Agrar 11:63–69. https://doi.org/10.18779/cyt.v11i1.222 Ramírez K, Zambrano G, Santos A, et al (2022) Análisis de la cadena de valor de cacao del Ecuador y percepciones sobre la regulación europea de cadmio en chocolate y otros derivados del cacao y el cambio climático. Cali, Colombia Servicio Nacional de Gestión de Riesgo y Emergencias (2020) Informe de situación COVID-19 Ecuador 16 de Marzo de 2020 Nolte K, Sipangule K, Wendt N (2022) Agricultural households in times of crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic, livelihoods and land-use decisions. J Land Use Sci 17:134–160. https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2021.2020922 OCDE (2020) Impacto social del COVID-19 en Ecuador: desafíos y respuestas OCDE (2021) Keep calm and carry on feeding : Agriculture and food policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis OECD (2020) Strengthening agricultural resilience in the face of multiple risks Ogisi O, Begho T (2021) Covid 19: ramifications for progress towards the sustainable development goals ( SDGs ) in Nigeria. Int Rev Appl Econ 35:256–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/02692171.2020.1864302 Pettit T, Croxton K, Fiksel J (2019) The evolution of resilience in supply chain management: a retrospective on ensuring supply chain resilience. J Bus Logist 40:56–65. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbl.12202 Quinlan A, Berbés-Blázquez M, Haider L, Peterson G (2016) Measuring and assessing resilience: broadening understanding through multiple disciplinary perspectives. J Appl Ecol 53:677–687. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12550 Rasul G (2021) A framework for addressing the twin challenges of COVID-19 and climate change for sustainable agriculture and food security in South Asia. Front Sustain Food Syst 5:1–16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.679037 Roubík H, Lošťák M, Ketuama CT et al (2022) Current coronavirus crisis and past pandemics - what can happen in post-COVID-19 agriculture? Sustain Prod Consum 30:752–760. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.01.007 Rukasha T, Nyagadza B, Pashapa R, Muposhi A (2021) Covid-19 impact on Zimbabwean agricultural supply chains and markets: a sustainable livelihoods perspective. Cogent Soc Sci. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2021.1928980 Saha A, Carreras M, Quak EJ (2022) Investigating initial policy responses to COVID-19: evidence across 59 countries. Int Rev Appl Econ 36:762–791. https://doi.org/10.1080/02692171.2022.2130187 Sánchez V, Zambrano J, Iglesias C, et al (2019) La cadena de valor del cacao en América Latina y El Caribe. Plataforma multiagencia de cacao para América Latina y el Caribe: Cacao 2030–2050 (Fondo Semilla) Sarkis J (2021) Supply chain sustainability: learning from the COVID-19 pandemic. Int J Oper Prod Manag 41:63–73. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-08-2020-0568 Serfilippi E, Ramnath G (2018a) Indicators to measure resilince - Appendix to: Resilience measurement and conceptual frameworks: a review of the literature Serfilippi E, Ramnath G (2018b) Resilience measurement and conceptual frameworks: a review of the literature. Ann Public Coop Econ 00:1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/apce.12202 Sridhar A, Balakrishnan A, Jacob MM et al (2022) Global impact of COVID-19 on agriculture: role of sustainable agriculture and digital farming. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30:42509–42525. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19358-w Stephens E, Timsina J, Snow V et al (2022) The immediate impact of the first waves of the global COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural systems worldwide: reflections on the COVID-19 special issue for agricultural systems. Agric Syst 201:103436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2022.103436 Stevano S, Franz T, Dafermos Y, Van Waeyenberge E (2021) COVID-19 and crises of capitalism: intensifying inequalities and global responses. Can J Dev Stud 42:1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2021.1892606 Štreimikienė D, Baležentis T, Volkov A et al (2022) Negative effects of covid-19 pandemic on agriculture: systematic literature review in the frameworks of vulnerability, resilience and risks involved of vulnerability, resilience and risks involved. Econ Res Istraživanja 35:529–545. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2021.1919542 Tan SY, De FC, Verma M et al (2023) Mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable populations: Lessons for improving health and social equity. Soc Sci Med 328:116007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116007 Teye J, Nikoi E (2021) The political economy of the cocoa value chain in Ghana Tian X, Zhou Y, Wang H (2022) The impact of COVID-19 on food consumption and dietary quality of rural households in China. Foods. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11040510 Tittonell P, Fernandez M, Mujtar V et al (2021) Emerging responses to the COVID-19 crisis from family farming and the agroecology movement in Latin America – a rediscovery of food, farmers and collective action. Agric Syst. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103098 Tukamuhabwa B, Stevenson M, Busby J, Zorzini M (2015) Supply chain resilience: definition, review and theoretical foundations for further study. Int J Prod Res 53:5592–5623. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2015.1037934 Tennhardt L, Lazzarini G, Weisshaidinger R, Schader C (2022) Do environmentally-friendly cocoa farms yield social and economic co-benefits? Ecol Econ 197:107428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107428 Wongnaa CA, Babu S (2020) Building resilience to shocks of climate change in Ghana’s cocoa production and its effect on productivity and incomes. Technol Soc 62:101288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101288 Workie E, Mackolil J, Nyika J, Ramadas S (2020) Deciphering the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food security, agriculture, and livelihoods: a review of the evidence from developing countries. Curr Res Environ Sustain 2:100014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2020.100014