Agricultural Systems 188 (2021) 103034 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Agricultural Systems journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy Immediate impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on bean value chain in selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa Eileen Bogweh Nchanji a,*, Cosmas Kweyu Lutomia b, Rowland Chirwa c, Noel Templer a, Jean Claude Rubyogo a, Patricia Onyango a a International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Kenya b Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Kenya c International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Malawi A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Keywords: Africa’s agriculture and food systems were already grappling with challenges such as climate change and weather COVID-19 variability, pests and disease, and regional conflicts. With rising new cases of COVID 19 propelling various Af- Bean value chain rican governments to enforce strict restrictions of varying degrees to curb the spread. Thus, the pandemic posed Sub-Saharan Africa unprecedented shocks on agriculture and food supply chains in Sub Saharan Africa. In this study, we use survey Agriculture Food system data collected from nine countries in Central, Eastern, and Southern, Africa to understand the immediate impact of COVID-19 on production, distribution, and consumption of common beans, and possible food security im- plications. Descriptive analysis of data collected from bean farmers, aggregators, processors, bean regional co- ordinators, and mechanization dealers reveal that COVID-19 and government restrictions had impacted the availability and cost of farm inputs and labour, distribution, and consumption of beans in Eastern and Southern Africa. The immediate impacts were dire in Southern Africa with Central Africa slightly impacted. The pro- duction and distribution challenges negatively impacted on frequency and patterns of food consumption in households in Africa. Thus, the pandemic poses a greater risk to food security and poverty in the region. Gov- ernments could play a significant role in supporting the needs of smallholder farmers, traders and other actors through provision of subsidized agricultural inputs. 1. Introduction Other measures, including lockdowns, widespread restriction on movement, and a ban on public gatherings were put in place with Food production in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) is relatively low varying degrees of strictness as shown in Table 1 below. compared to the rest of the world. As a result, food insecurity is a Low investment in agricultural mechanization exposed the bean persistent challenge in the region. Climate change, nutrient depleted value chain to the immediate effects of the pandemic. Bean production is soil, crop pests and diseases, frequent civil unrests and the outbreak of SSA is labour-intensive and, therefore, the spread coronavirus and diseases such as the Spanish Flu, influenza and HIV/AIDs have enforcement of social distancing, working from home, and restricted contributed to low food production and distribution affecting agricul- transportation are expected to affect labour-dependent operations such tural activities in SSA prior to the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 as planting, plant management, harvesting, threshing, and storage (COVID-19) pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020a). These (Baudron et al., 2019; Nassary et al., 2020a, 2020b). This poses a sig- pandemics have not only caused human suffering and death, but also nificant challenge on the transformation of smallholder agriculture from reversed gains in the eradication of poverty and food insecurity to meet subsistence to market-oriented agriculture. Furthermore, cessation of the Sustainable Development Goals 1 on Zero hunger. movement was expected to cause significant disruption in food pro- When the first cases of COVID 19 were reported in Africa, Egypt in duction and supply chains in major urban areas. As overall logistics February, most countries in SSA closed their borders and shut down slowed down, food safety and quality was negatively affected. Further- their air spaces to reduce the number of imported coronavirus cases. more, the ban on public gathering and restricted open-air market * Corresponding author at: c/o– International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology –ICIPE, Duduville Campus Off Kasarani Road, P.O. Box 823-00621, Nairobi, Kenya. E-mail address: e.nchanji@cgiar.org (E.B. Nchanji). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.103034 Received 16 September 2020; Received in revised form 11 December 2020; Accepted 16 December 2020 Available online 18 December 2020 0308-521X/© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). E.B. Nchanji et al. A g r i c u l t u r a l S y s t e m s 188 (2021) 103034 Table 1 Additionally, millions of people lost jobs, while businesses incurred Summary of public policies and measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. losses, pushing millions of households into the risk of becoming poor Country Policies and containment measures (CGAP, 2020). To mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on the agricultural and food Kenya Partial lockdown (May 7), partial border closure (May 16), cessation of movement in high-risk systems, public and private sectors have come up with measures to counties/regions (April 6), dusk to dawn curfews ensure that agricultural value chain is not adversely affected (World (March 29), social distancing and mandatory mask- Bank, 2020). For instance, at a time when some local markets were wearing (April 6), closure of schools (March 15), closing down due to travel restrictions, the International Fund for closure of churches and non-essential businesses (April 11), restricted air transport (8 April), ban on Agricultural Development (IFAD) helped connect farmers to buyers travel across the Tanzanian border (16 May). UN and also provided seeds and fertilizer to farmers in several countries in Migration Agency (2020) SSA (Rural21, 2020). In addition, the Pan Africa Bean Research Alliance Uganda Nationwide lockdown (March 31, eased June 2), - PABRA under the Alliance of Bioversity International and the Inter- curfew (March 31), closure of non-food selling national Center for Tropical Agriculture is working with their partners businesses (March 31), and restricted transportation (March 31, enhanced April 10), social distancing and across different PABRA targeted countries to provided high iron and zinc mandatory mask-wearing. UN Migration Agency certified bean seeds to farmers and extension services like the case in (2020) and Anadolu Agency (2020). Nakuru, Kenya (Nchanji, 2020). The support is in recognition that over Tanzania Closure of schools, ban on public gatherings (17 70% of food consumed in the world is produced by smallholder farmers March), advise encouraging people to avoid unnecessary movements. No formal internal in rural areas and sold in urban areas (Ricciardi et al., 2018). While a movement restrictions. Suspension of air travel and continued assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on Africa’s agriculture intercountry public bus services (March 25, and food systems is ongoing, deployment of short-term solutions to reinforced April 11, relaxed on May 14 and lifted on production, distribution, and consumption hubs are underway to May 18), Kenya border closure (May 17). UN cushion smallholder farmers from income losses and urban population Migration Agency (2020) and Kell (2020). Democratic Republic of Declared state of emergency (March 24), closure of from risk of hunger. Congo (DR Congo) all borders, ban air travel and non-essential This paper contributes to the already emerging literature on the transportation between Kinshasa and 25 provinces impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on agriculture and food systems. Our (March 26), curfew and Kinshasa lockdown (March focus is on the impact of COVID-19 on bean value chain in nine (9) 26), and ban on intercity travels and later other towns (April 22, May 20). Global Monitoring (2020) countries in SSA: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, DR Congo, and Tasamba (2020). Cameroon, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. We recognize that the Burundi Flights suspension (20 March), blockage of cargo published literature on COVID-19 effects on agriculture are reviews of transportation from East African Community (EAC) literature, personal communications, news and blog content, and in- member countries (20 March), closure of borders dustry surveys and commentaries. Therefore, we provide a discussion of with Rwanda and DR Congo, reopening border to cargo transportation (April 13). UN Migration the immediate impact of COVID-19 on agriculture and food systems Agency (2020) based on survey data collected in SSA. Zambia Shutdown of educational institutions and foreign travel restrictions (March 17), border closure (May 1.1. Theoretical framework 10), partial lockdown, partial closure of non-essential businesses, social gatherings ban, and suspension of cross border passenger and cargo transportation The world has witnessed a couple of health-related crises in the last services. Nkomesha (2020) and World Aware (2020) century. However, few pandemics have had significant range of effects Zimbabwe Declaration of state of disaster (March 20), like the outbreak and global spread of COVID-19 (CCAFS, 2020). The prohibition of gatherings and national lockdown and outbreak of influenza pandemics and severe acute respiratory syndrome curfews (March 30), and closure of non-essential services and business operations. KPMG (2020) (SARS) led to the formulation of several theoretical approaches Mozambique Cancellation of public events (March 19), explaining disease impacts on national, regional, and global economies. international travel controls (March 20, April 1), For instance, Brahmbhatt and Dutta (2008) used the economic epide- public information campaigns (March 22), closure of miology approach to highlight SARS dynamics, behavioural responses, schools (March 23), public gathering restrictions, workplace closure (March 30), closure of public and economic implications of behavioural responses, illness, and death. transport, stay at home order, and restrictions on Another applicable framework is the cost of illness as used by Barratt internal movement (April 1). Ask About (2020) et al. (2019) to account for the indirect cost implications of outbreak and Cameroon International travel control (March 13), closure of spread of animal diseases. Nonetheless, besides health effects of coro- schools and public transport, and restriction on navirus, containment measures have disrupted all sectors. The com- gatherings and internal movements (March 18), and workplace closure (May 1). Ask About (2020) plexities of inter and intra-sectoral transmission of the COVID-19 related shocks left global agricultural stakeholders concerned about the impact of pandemic in developing countries, especially SSA countries. The operations compromised access to food in urban areas as a whole. In pathways for the transmission are well-discussed by the indicator rural areas, COVID-19 containment measures impacted the supply of framework proposed by Amjath-Babu et al. (2020). In this study, we farm inputs such as bean seed and fertilizer, as well as access to exten- used the indicators framework to explain the pathways of the impact of sion services. These disruptions adversely affected bean production coronavirus on bean value chain activities in SSA as shown in Fig. 1. among rural poor and marginalized groups, cutting them off from output The indicators framework envisages direct and indirect pathways for markets (Siche, 2020). Thus, the cumulative impact of COVID-19 may the impacts of COVID-19 on agricultural value chains. COVID-19 cause a severe setback to the achievement of Sustainable Development outbreak and eventual spread across countries caused fear of in- Goals (SDGs) that aim to eradicate hunger and poverty by 2030. fections, prompting governments to issue public health guidelines and Consumption hubs in urban and peri-urban areas experienced food containment measures, including restricted transport and commercial shortages because supplies from rural areas dropped due to mobility and services. The pathways for transmission of COVID-19 impacts along the transport restrictions. Additionally, the fear of being exposed to the virus bean values chain due to transport restrictions are threefold. First, the and lockdowns constrained the supply of food to consumption hubs restrictions reduce availability of agricultural services, causing delays in (Ezeh et al., 2020). The projected effect on food safety and consumption farming operations (Amjath-Babu et al., 2020). Second, transport re- threatens to undo progress towards healthier and nutritious diets. strictions disrupt importation of farm inputs such as seed, agro- 2 E.B. Nchanji et al. A g r i c u l t u r a l S y s t e m s 188 (2021) 103034 Fig. 1. Indicators framework of the pathways of COVID-19 impacts on bean value chain in Sub-Saharan Africa. Adapted from Amjath-Babu et al. (2020). chemicals, machinery, and fertilizer (Akiwumi, 2020; Willy et al., 2020). 2020). The interactive negatively impact improvements in bean con- Third, COVID-19 induces transport restrictions cause logistical chal- sumption and food and nutritional security in both rural and urban lenges, including partial closure of many agri-businesses, internal areas. transport disruptions, and scaling down of international shipments (Amjath-Babu et al., 2020). Direct and indirect impact on transport re- 2. Methodology strictions cause input price volatility thereby increasing cost of bean production. 2.1. Study area Furthermore, public health guidelines such as social distancing, stay- at-home orders, as well as lockdowns have two important effects on The study was conducted in 9 SSA countries between July and bean production. Social distancing limits hiring of labour and utilization August 2020. Fig. 2 provide exact locations of the countries in the of available household labour (Amjath-Babu et al., 2020) causing labour region. shortages. In addition, restricted movements of persons and trans- portation impacted on labour availability. The potential implications of 2.2. Data collection these dynamics is the creation of labour shortages (Amjath-Babu et al., 2020), causing delays in farm operation. The data were collected using a mixed method from bean farmers, High transportation cost, market restriction and public health con- coordinators of bean programs, urban and peri-urban consumers, cerns resulting in increased prices in urban areas amidst low purchasing aggregators, processors, and mechanization service providers. The data power of the people. The delays in farming operations and the direct were collected through web-based surveys, by sending links on What- effect of fear for COVID-19 negatively impact farm productivity, leading sApp and other mobile phone-based applications, and interviews. Face- to decline in farm incomes due to low sales revenues (Pan et al., 2020). to-face interviews were conducted in strict adherence to the COVID-19 Besides, input price volatility and decline in consumer demand result in health and safety measures and guidelines, including maintaining so- an increase in bean production costs and output price reductions and cial distance, mask-wearing, and hand washing. volatility. The cumulative impact of these COVID-19 related effects is The data were collected through Survey Gizmo in English speaking decline in liquidity and capital along the bean value chain because of the countries. In French-speaking countries, the data were collected in transmission of economic impacts to other agents. For instance, low French, then translated into English, and filled in the survey tool. The grain volumes reduce business income for bean aggregators, network data were collected by National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) coordinators, informal and formal vendors, constraining them from partners. A total of 404 bean farmers, 5 coordinators, 4 female bean maintaining critical stocks of grain and inputs (Amjath-Babu et al., processors, 2 male agricultural equipment/machine dealers, and 431 3 E.B. Nchanji et al. A g r i c u l t u r a l S y s t e m s 188 (2021) 103034 Fig. 2. Map of study areas. urban and peri-urban consumers were surveyed. Furthermore, a web- 3. Results and discussion based survey was administered to 10 bean grain aggregators in Eastern and Southern Africa. Table 2 provides the numbers and types of 3.1. Effect of COVID-19 on the bean seed system participants by country. Ten Aggregators were asked about the business model they 2.3. Data analysis employed. All aggregators across countries (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia and Zimbabwe) entered into contractual grain pro- The data analysis methods were overly descriptive. Exploratory data duction agreements with farmer groups. In these agreements, eight out analysis of dataset variables was conducted using Excel and STATA. of 10 aggregators advanced seed credit to farmers. This is an indication Statistics generated from raw data such as proportions and means were of the crucial role played by aggregators in satisfying farmers’ demand presented using data visualization methods, including multivariate non- for bean seed. The result is an indication that aggregators need reliable graphical (cross-tabulations) and multivariate graphical methods. and sustainable supply of grain of acceptable quality to sustain their Table 2 Numbers and types of participants by country. Farmers Aggregators Coordinators Processors Machine dealers Consumers Kenya 41 1 35 Uganda 24 2 1 43 Tanzania 110 1 2 1 2 112 Burundi 41 1 1 1 37 DR Congo 42 1 45 Mozambique 36 36 Zambia 40 1 48 Zimbabwe 36 4 1 1 40 Cameroon 34 35 Total 404 10 5 4 2 431 4 E.B. Nchanji et al. A g r i c u l t u r a l S y s t e m s 188 (2021) 103034 business models. higher than those in 2019. This could be attributed to widespread in- The role of aggregators is critical in bean value chain in SSA. For terventions that will be in place after COVID-19 or lifting of restriction. instance, their innovative business models assist in overcoming seed The bean network coordinators’ projections of seed production is delivery bottlenecks (Staatz et al., 2020). Nonetheless, COVID-19 is based on their opinion of the potential impact of the pandemic and complicating their efforts in bridging seed supply gaps. For instance, climatic shocks on seed production in their respective countries, as well seven aggregators in across eastern and southern Africa reported that as production levels from previous season. Three out of the five co- COVID-19 had affected their distribution of seed to contracted farmers. ordinators (Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania) The effect is much dire in Southern Africa countries than in Eastern reported that the pandemic had impacted seed production in 2020 due Africa. Thus, the COVID-19 instigated disruptions of the bean seed to increased cost of hired labour and inputs as shown in Fig. 3. They also system are likely to impact on seed multiplication, grain production, and identified the increase in seed prices and difficulties in mobilising labour access to quality seed (OECD, 2020a); crucial in the resilience of agri- and field-based inspections, as well as challenges involved in trans- cultural sectors and food systems. ferring seed to points of sale and collection of produced seed as chal- Common bean is among the g crucial crop grown to improve in- lenges facing seed production enterprises in Eastern and Southern comes, food and nutrition security, and health outcomes of resource- Africa. With the expected sharp rise in the demand for seed post-COVID- poor smallholder households across SSA (Nassary et al., 2020a, 19, short-term to mid-term effects of the pandemic on seed production is 2020b). Safeguarding Africa’s food system requires the understanding of likely to jeopardize seed assistance programs if nothing is done. the impact of COVID-19 on production and multiplication of bean seed. According to the CGIAR, it takes at least a season to produce and Nevertheless, low farmer access to certified and quality seed is a major supply quality seed. As a result, as African farmers prepare to go back to bottleneck to the potential contribution of common bean to the allevi- their farms in the next cropping seasons, they are likely to struggle more ation of poverty and food insecurity (Access to Seed Index, 2020; IFAD, in accessing and obtaining quality seed than they did before the 2018). There are indications that the COVID-19 pandemic may exacer- pandemic (Ojiewo and Pillandi, 2020). Additionally, the bleak forecast bate the production and distribution of quality bean grain in SSA in production of certified seed is expected to see farmers resort to (Rubyogo et al., 2020). This finding underlines explanations provided by increased use of ordinary grain as seed, thwarting progress made by on- International Seed Federation (2020) and OECD (2020b), and Trade for going programs like Improving Bean Production and Marketing in Africa International Development, 2020 about impact of transport restrictions (IBPMA) the Cultivate Africa’s Future Fund (CultiAF), and Tropical Le- due to the pandemic on seed sector. gumes (TL) programs (Varshney et al., 2019) in promoting adoption of This observation is underscored by coordinators of the bean research certified seed. The impact of the pandemic may go beyond affecting seed team in the different countries we targeted for this study. Analysis of production by delaying certification of improved bean seed varieties. data collected from coordinators shows that they projected the pandemic would reduce quantities of certified seed in 2020. For 3.1.1. Effect of COVID-19 on access to agricultural services instance, the projected regional average quantity of certified seed is 881 The COVID-19 pandemic has been labelled as the biggest threat to metric tonnes against 901 metric tons pre-COVID-19. Although the the already weak agricultural sector in SSA (Ehui, 2020; Pais et al., change is minimal, it may exacerbate already existing constraints such 2020). The expected impact cuts across each node of the bean values as seed unavailability, affordability, and quality (Katungi et al., 2010; chain. Focus on the possible impact of the pandemic has been on how Munyaka et al., 2015). It may also thwart efforts that are already un- grain production will respond to coronavirus containment measures derway in improving seed production and distribution (Varshney et al., implemented by various governments. The levels of restrictions differ 2019). from each country and region, and the impact of the containment Table 3 presents quantities of seed procured and supplied by bean measures are also expected to vary by country and region. To profile the coordinators within their networks pre-COVID-19 and during pandemic short-term bean production challenges related to COVID-19, we asked projections. The results show that COVID-19 will have an adverse effect farmers to state how they have been affected by the pandemic but being on the production of certified seed in Burundi and Tanzania, with a cognisant of the fact that they also face other production challenges. projected level of seed production being below quantities produced in Sampled farmers were asked to state whether bean production was 2019. Furthermore, quantities of quality declared seed (QSD) are also affected by the pandemic. Analysis of their responses show that the expected to decrease in 2020 in Tanzania compared to other countries. pandemic has not affected bean production in Burundi and Cameroon. In The negative impact of COVID-19 on production Tanzania may be contrast, every farmer (100%) interviewed farmer in Zambia, and 95% attributed to strict enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions of neighbour- of their counterparts in DR Congo indicated COVID-19 impacted their ing countries such as Kenya, which host multiple seed companies that bean production. Furthermore, half of the surveyed farmers in Uganda supply breeder and certified seed across the Eastern Africa countries and 10%, 6%, and 3% of farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique (Access to Seeds Index, 2020). Movement of people critical to produc- reported that bean production was impacted by COVID-19, respectively. tion, trade and sales may complicate access to seed. Border closures and Nearly 31% of the farmers across the nine countries reported that delays in inspection and limited staff numbers means more time for COVID-19 had impacted bean production. More farmers in the Southern clearance, slowing down overall supply chain functions. In contrast, African region (55%) than in the Eastern Africa region (24%) reported seed production coordinators in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic that the pandemic impacted bean production. of Congo projected that the quantities of certified seed in 2020 would be It is noteworthy that the Southern and Eastern Africa farmers had Table 3 Coordinators of bean research program estimates of the effect of COVID-19 on seed quantities in metric tons by country. 2019 2020 projected Certified QDS Breeder Saved seed Certified QDS Breeder Saved seed Tanzania 560 309 57 450 300 110 Burundi 988 8 7 6528 850 35 5 5868 Zimbabwe 1840 1010 22 2000 1900 1100 21.00 3000 DR Congo 711 76 111 756 65.00 20 Note: Quality declared (QSD) seed in SSA is produced by farmers mostly under projects. They have to meet seed production and quality standards. Saved seed is recycled bean seed that is retained from grain harvested in previous seasons (s). 5 E.B. Nchanji et al. A g r i c u l t u r a l S y s t e m s 188 (2021) 103034 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Difficulty in Increase in the Increase in the Delay in planting Increased seed Difficulties in mobilising labour price of labour price of inputs price transferring seed to the point of to points of work sale/collection Fig. 3. Count of bean coordinators responses to the effect of COVID-19 on seed production in 2020. higher chances of reporting the effects of the pandemic on production; bean production by causing delays at the start of planting and harvest- because the first reported cases of COVID-19 and government re- ing, seed availability and difficulties in accessing credit. Responses from strictions on movement and lockdowns happened at the beginning of the bean network coordinators in Tanzania, Burundi, and DR Congo indi- February-April 2020 cropping seasons in eastern Africa and October to cated that increase in frequencies of climate-related occurrences such as February cropping seasons (e.g. in Mozambique, DR Congo, Uganda and rains, floods, drought, and high temperatures affected or were antici- Kenya). These results reveal that the possible impacts of the pandemic pated to decrease bean production in the two 2020 cropping seasons. on the production of beans and other crops are also dependent on Furthermore, the bean network coordinators identified the increase in cropping seasons rather than just the restrictions imposed by pests and diseases and post-harvest losses as some of the major threats to governments. an increase in bean production in 2020. Comparison of impact by country shows that bean production in The immediate impact of COVID-19, coupled with the adverse effects Tanzania is impacted by the effect of the pandemic on the cost of labour of climate change as reported by aggregators and coordinators, threaten (Table 4). In contrast, almost 67% of the surveyed farmers in Kenya to undermine the improvement in bean production in SSA. Furthermore, reported that high cost of hired labour and farm inputs, and low demand seed shortages as a result of the pandemic are expected to have ripple of bean grain in the market were significantly affected. Farmers in effects along the value chain. The first effect is on bean grain production. Mozambique, DR Congo, and Zimbabwe reported seed unavailability as Based on their previous season’s production, network coordinators were COVID-19 a related impact on bean production. Almost half (49%) of asked to project volumes of bean grain that would be produced in 2020. sampled Zambian farmers reported that COVID-19 had caused grain Table 5 compares the estimates of bean grain produced in 2019 to the transport challenges from farms to points of sale (Table 3). These results projected quantities in 2020. The combined result shows that the indicate the diverse impacts of the pandemic on bean production, which average quantities of bean grain produced across the countries will be are possibly sporadic depending on restrictions and seasonality issues. 435,000 metric tons in 2020 compared to 488,000 metric tons produced For instance, agriculture in SSA is labour intensive (both farmer’s own in 2019. According to bean network coordinators projections presented and hired labour force). Thus, social distancing restrictions disrupted in Table 4, grain production in Tanzania, Burundi, and DR Congo are labour availability and cost (Schmidhuber et al., 2020). On the other expected to decline by 10.9% in 2020 compared to the 2019 production hand, countries with imposed partial or full lockdown could have dis- levels. However, grain production in Zimbabwe and Mozambique in rupted distribution of seed and other farm inputs, impacting on bean 2020 are expected to be relatively above the 2019 production levels. production. The bean program coordinators and aggregators were also inter- 3.1.2. Effect of COVID-19 on bean grain business, distribution, and trade viewed on the effects or potential threats of the pandemic on bean The impact of COVID-19 in SSA goes beyond seed and grain pro- production in 2020. Their responses corroborate the effects reported by duction. The downstream distribution and demand for bean grain are farmers. They observed that the COVID-19 led to high cost of hired la- also expected to be affected by the transmission of COVID-19 from seed bour and farm inputs (Fig. 4). Additionally, aggregators and co- and grain production to aggregation and trade. Presently, the concern is ordinators identified constraints in transporting bean harvest from the the breakdown in the supply chain of bean grain to aggregators, small farm gate to the points of sale. In the short-term, bean network co- and medium bean enterprises, and processors. The small and medium ordinators and aggregators also reported that COVID-19 is impacting enterprises (SMEs) are expected to be deeply affected by social Table 4 Proportions (%) of farmers’ responses on the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on bean production by country. COVID-19 effects Kenya Mozambique DRC Tanzania Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe High prices for hired labour 22.22 1.22 63.64 1.28 Higher prices for inputs 22.22 19.51 3.85 31.03 Low demand in the market 22.22 9.09 21.43 2.56 12.07 Fertilizer unavailability 11.11 1.22 14.29 1.28 Low price in the market 11.11 6.1 9.09 28.57 5.17 Difficulties in transporting the harvest to the point of 11.11 9.09 14.29 48.72 18.97 Seed unavailability 100.00 47.56 1.28 32.76 Delay in planting 15.85 2.56 Delayed harvest 8.54 7.14 1.28 Difficulty in accessing agronomic information 9.09 14.29 37.18 6 Count E.B. Nchanji et al. A g r i c u l t u r a l S y s t e m s 188 (2021) 103034 Delay in harvesting 2 Transportation difficulties 1 7 Possible substandard seed 1 Delay in planting 1 3 Fertiliser unavailability 1 Seed unavailability 1 Difficult to access credit facilities 2 Limited availability of labour 2 Higher prices for inputs 2 7 Increased digital cost 3 High prices for hired labour 3 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Count Aggregators Coordinators Fig. 4. Count of coordinators and aggregators responses to the effect of COVID-19 on bean production. The pandemic and government restrictions also resulted in increased Table 5 cost of inputs, delayed planting and limited storage spaces (Fig. 5). The average quantities of bean grain produced in 2019 and projected grain Moreover, some aggregators reported that cross-border trade is quantities in 2020 as estimate by coordinators. impacted because of lack of bean grain resulting from high seed prices Country 2019 2020 projected and delays in grain harvesting. Seed system activities have been Tanzania 1,200,000 1,050,000 hampered, causing delays in bean planting. The domino effect is the Burundi 434,000 410,000 automatic shift in harvesting dates, which negatively impacts cross- Mozambique 75,000 80,000 border bean trade. Zimbabwe 12,650 13,000 DR Congo 6050 6000 Four processors of bean products interviewed from Zimbabwe, Pooled 487,950.00 434,833 Uganda, Burundi, and Tanzania indicated that their main processed bean product was flour. Analysis of their responses to the survey ques- tions indicate that except for the Zimbabwean processors, the others distancing and trade restriction because of the informal nature of their were optimistic that they would be an increase in the volumes of bean trade with low resilience to economic and non-economic crises. We grain to be processed this year compared to last year. For processors in interviewed aggregators and trader of bean products about the effects of Burundi and Tanzania, their positive outlook is attributed to relatively the pandemic on their bean businesses. low impact of COVID-19 on bean production as reported by farmers. The Aggregators in Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, and Tanzania Ugandan processors’ positive projection of processed bean quantities is noted that they face insurmountable challenges since the first cases of unexpected due to coordinators and farmers, indicating that the COVID-19 were reported in their respective countries. Aggregators re- pandemic has relatively less negatively impacted grain production. ported that the pandemic has reduced sales volumes, due to the closure While the processor in Zimbabwe reported that the sale of processed of grain markets. Most aggregators sell grain to informal vendors who products was poor pre-COVID-19 and would remain unchanged in 2020, have also been affected by almost complete closure of business such as Ugandan and Tanzanian processors indicated the sale of processed flour hotels and schools where most beans were absorbed. In addition, was average before the first cases of COVID were reported. The pro- aggregators are facing a challenge of low grain prices due to decreased cessors in Burundi and Tanzania were optimistic that sale of processed demand for bean grain in the market as most traders have scaled down bean product would remain good and average respectively predicting business operations. Third, some aggregators reported slow movement from the good performance in 2019, the Ugandan processor was less of grain due to border closure and travel restrictions as a result of partial optimistic by projecting sale of the processed product will be poor in lockdowns in some of the countries in Southern and Eastern Africa. 2020. Countries in Eastern and Southern Africa responded to the unprec- All processors confirmed that government measures during COVID- edented outbreak on the continent by imposing varying degrees of re- 19 is affecting their businesses. Sales have decreased due to low con- strictions that affected cross-border trade. A majority of the aggregators’ sumption of bean products. Consequently, their businesses are operating highlighted transportation costs and an increase in logistical costs, as below capacity. For instance, the processor in Zimbabwe reported that crucial impact of the pandemic on beans cross-border trade. Addition- the business is only operating at 25% of its usual capacity, while pro- ally, COVID-19 has increased costs related to storage of beans. The cross- cessors in Uganda and Tanzania indicated that they are operating at half border bean trade is expected to decline in Eastern and Southern Africa of their capacity. The processor in Burundi reported that the business is with COVID-pandemic as reported by bean network coordinators in DR operating at 75% of its capacity. These results are further underscored Congo and Burundi. This contradicts projections provided by aggre- by aggregators, who reported that their businesses slowed down during gators who were optimistic that the volume of grain traded this year the pandemic. While three out of four bean aggregation businesses in would increase. Notwithstanding projection, contradictions by aggre- Zimbabwe, one in Uganda, and those in Tanzania, and Zambia operated gators and coordinators, observers note that the COVID-19 pandemic is at 75% of the pre-COVID-19 levels, those in Kenya, Burundi, and one in already causing direct and indirect reduction in volumes of trade in most Uganda operated at 25% of their capacities. Another aggregator in agricultural commodities in the regions.COVID-19 will contribute to a Zimbabwe reported that the business operated at half its capacity. . decline on dry bean trade quantities that have been increasing since the last quarter of 2019 (East Africa Cross Border Trade Bulletin, 2020). 7 E.B. Nchanji et al. A g r i c u l t u r a l S y s t e m s 188 (2021) 103034 Increased seed price 2 Delayed harvest 2 Delayed planting by farmers 3 Storage difficulties 3 Increase in the price of inputs 5 Difficulties in transferring seed to points of… 7 Increase in the price of labour 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fig. 5. Proportions of aggregators’ responses to the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic and government measures on bean trade. 3.1.3. Effect of COVID-19 on bean consumption and food security insecurity situations in the sub-region. Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the African agri- In contrast to bean consumption pattern by urban and peri-urban cultural and food system could not sustainably meet the food demands consumers, farm level patterns of bean consumption were affected by by the population. The continent relied on agricultural imports to bridge the pandemic as indicated in Fig. 7. While nearly 45% of farmers sur- the food supply and demand gap. As of 2019, the African countries veyed across the region reported household bean consumption patterns imported between US$45–50 billion worth of food commodities (Pais have not changed during the pandemic, 55% observed that consumption et al., 2020). These statistics provide a clear indication of the role of patterns have changed. For instance, 21% of the surveyed rural house- trade in provision of food in Africa (Rubyogo et al., 2020). The openness holds ate less beans compared to 34% of who ate more beans per week of agricultural and food markets means shocks in the international during the pandemic. By region comparison of the results indicates that markets may have a bearing on food supply in the region. With this in all surveyed farmers in central Africa are eating more beans during mind, governments, development partners, and agricultural value chain COVID-19 compared to their counterparts in Eastern Africa (33%) and actors speculate that the pandemic, accompanied by restrictive mea- Southern Africa (17%). The proportions of farmers that eat less beans sures, would disrupt agricultural trade, leading to dire implications on per week during COVID-19 is more in Southern Africa countries than in the food system. Information from farmers and consumers about their Eastern Africa. This could be attributed to the fact that most farmers in patterns of food consumption before and during COVID-19 confirm this. Zambia and Zimbabwe reported that the pandemic had adverse effects Fig. 6, above, summarizes urban and peri-urban patterns of bean on their bean production. consumption in three regions of Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. The changes in consumption are expected to cause changes in the Aggregated results of all surveyed consumers show that more than half frequency of bean consumption at the household level. Table 6, below, (53%) of them have not changed bean consumption patterns during the shows the frequencies of bean consumption by the surveyed bean con- pandemic. More consumers in Eastern Africa have not changed their sumers in urban and peri-urban areas have been adversely affected in bean consumption patterns during the pandemic compared to those in Southern Africa countries than in other regions. For instance, the pro- Central (54%) and in Southern (37%) Africa regions. The results dis- portions of consumers that ate beans once per week in Zimbabwe played in Fig. 6 suggests that weakly bean consumption during the increased from 44% pre-COVID-19 to 62% during COVID-19. A similar pandemic has relatively been affected in Southern Africa compared to trend is shown in Zambia. Bean consumption by urban and peri-urban the other two regions with the exception of Zambia that had good har- consumers almost remained unchanged in Cameroon, possibly because vest pre-pandemic (Ehui, 2020), food production in Zimbabwe and of the almost little impact of the pandemic on bean production as earlier Mozambique were adversely affected by climate-induced shocks, putt- reported. In Eastern Africa, the pandemic appears to have increased ing pressure on food systems (Akiwumi, 2020; Ayanlade and Radeny, frequency of consumption in urban and peri-urban areas from twice or 2020; Paul, 2020). Thus, COVID-19 is exacerbating the already dire food once per week before the pandemic to almost daily and more than three 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Pooled Eastern Central Southern Eat less beans Not changed Eat more beans Fig. 6. Changes in bean consumption patterns in urban and peri-urban areas since COVID-19 by region. 8 Percentage E.B. Nchanji et al. A g r i c u l t u r a l S y s t e m s 188 (2021) 103034 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Pooled Eastern Central Southern Eat less beans Not changed Eat more beans Fig. 7. Changes in bean consumption patterns in rural areas since COVID-19 by region. Table 6 Proportions of consumers’ frequency of bean consumption a week before COVID-19 and During COVID-19 by country. Before COVID-19 During COVID-19 Everyday > thrice Thrice Twice Once Everyday > thrice Thrice Twice Once Burundi 67.57 8.11 10.81 13.51 40.54 10.81 24.32 24.32 Cameroon 2.86 8.57 5.71 22.86 60.00 2.86 11.43 25.71 60.00 Kenya 2.86 14.29 25.71 34.29 22.86 2.86 5.71 20.00 40.00 31.43 Mozambique 2.78 11.11 27.78 58.33 2.78 16.67 36.11 44.44 DRC 31.11 17.78 31.11 15.56 4.44 20 15.56 20 24.44 20.00 Tanzania 5.36 46.43 16.07 25.00 7.14 6.25 53.57 13.39 19.64 7.14 Uganda 2.27 6.82 11.36 20.45 59.09 27.27 15.91 15.91 22.73 18.18 Zambia 4.17 10.42 22.92 62.5 4.17 16.67 31.25 47.92 Zimbabwe 12.82 10.26 33.33 43.59 10.26 2.56 25.64 61.54 times. In Kenya, Tanzania, and Burundi, urban and rural bean con- inter-regional trade for food supplies. Another salient finding indicates sumption frequency appear to have slightly reduced during the that consumers in Central Africa (Cameroon) are consuming more of pandemic. In contrast, DR Congo appears to be the most affected country other legumes and vegetables now than before the pandemic, but none in Eastern Africa, with about 20% of the households consuming beans of them is consuming meat or fish. In addition, meat and fish con- every day during the pandemic compared to 31% that consumed beans sumption in Southern and Eastern Africa countries declined during the before the pandemic COVID-19 (Table 5). The frequency of bean con- pandemic. Increased vegetable consumption in Central, for example, sumption in Uganda has increased, with the proportions of everyday could be attributed to the promotion of consumption of vitamin-rich consumption increasing from 2% pre-COVID-19 to 27% during the foods as a strategy of boosting immunity against coronavirus infec- pandemic. On the other proportions of households that consumed bean tion. Similar results are reported by farming households that were sur- once per week reduced from 59% before the pandemic to 18% during veyed in the nine countries (see Tables 7). the pandemic. The results in Tables 7 and 8 indicate the immediate impact of Furthermore, the anticipated immediate impact of the pandemic on COVID-19 on food security. For urban and peri-urban consumers, The food markets in urban and peri-urban areas cannot be overstated differences in proportions of food types consumed pre-COVID-19 and because of challenges in transportation of food from production hubs during the pandemic were significantly different except for meat and (International Trade Centre, 2020). Results in Table 6 indicate that the fruit consumption in Southern and Central Africa sub-regions respec- consumption of all food products remained unchanged during the tively. There were statistically significant reductions in consumption of pandemic compared to their consumption during the pandemic, except diverse varieties of food by farmers in Eastern and Southern Africa, fish and meat consumption in Central Africa. The salient finding from except for bean and other legumes, and meat in latter region. The the result presented in Table 6 indicate that the pandemic could be cause decline in proportions of households consuming diverse food varieties logistical bottlenecks that will affect in country availability and cross- threatens to exacerbate food insecurity problem in SSA. The reductions border trade for those countries that heavily rely on intra-regional and in food types consumed could be attributes to reduced farm incomes and Table 7 Proportions (%) of consumers that ate different types of food before and during the pandemic by region. Before COVID-19 During COVID-19 Pooled Eastern Central Southern Pooled Eastern Central Southern Bean 89.54 88.89 74.29 95.12 80.1 89.05 68.57 61.79 Cereals 86.99 83.57 62.86 97.56 75.77 82.12 60 66.67 Roots and tubers 76.53 72.63 71.43 81.3 66.33 71.17 48.57 55.28 Other legumes 56.63 53.65 25.71 72.36 38.52 45.26 34.29 26.83 Vegetable 87.24 89.78 2.86 100 85.71 85.04 11.43 95.12 Fruits 63.27 60.22 5.71 76.42 47.7 57.66 2.86 28.46 Meat 68.11 66.42 100 86.99 43.88 49.27 0 38.21 Fish 64.03 60.22 100 87.8 45.66 44.89 0 52.85 9 Percentage E.B. Nchanji et al. A g r i c u l t u r a l S y s t e m s 188 (2021) 103034 Table 8 Foods consumption by farmers in before and during the pandemic by region. Before COVID-19 During COVID-19 Pooled Eastern Central Southern Pooled Eastern Central Southern Beans 97.77 97.29 97.06 99.11 89.85 98.06 97.06 68.75 Cereals 94.55 93.02 94.12 98.21 80.2 83.72 91.18 68.75 Roots and tubers 81.44 79.07 85.29 85.71 59.16 74.42 38.24 30.36 Other legumes 50 32.95 82.35 79.46 28.22 25.97 82.35 16.96 Vegetables 88.12 85.66 70.59 99.11 85.15 85.27 82.35 85.71 Fruits 59.9 61.63 5.88 72.32 46.29 60.08 38.24 16.96 Meat 62.87 56.59 2.94 95.54 46.29 39.15 2.94 30.36 Fish 58.17 54.65 0.00 83.93 36.14 44.19 0.00 28.57 millions of job losses resulting in low purchasing power and food de- on-going pandemic. For instance, farmers in Kenya, Uganada, and mand (Amjath-Babu et al., 2020; Mbewa, 2020). These represent losses Mozambique indicated that they benefited from favourable seed and of income and livelihoods for those involved in the bean value chain. fertilizer prices in government supported programs. Some of the gov- Additionally, the pandemic may have forced farmers to either consume ernment supported programs included e-voucher initiative in Kenya, seed as grain in order to cushion themselves against reduced access to special facilitation and support of transportation of planting material by food. These scenarios are a major bottleneck to the progress towards Ugandan government, Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) and the ending hunger in SSA. National Food and Nutrition Commission (NFNC) in Zambia. Nearly 39% of the farmers aware of government support were already benefi- 3.1.4. Government support and strategies employed by farmers, consumers, ciaries of such programs. Approximately 9%, 10%, 67%, 88%, and 5% of and aggregators in response to the pandemic the surveyed farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Like other economic and non-economic crises, individuals, house- Zimbabwe respectively were already beneficiaries of such government holds, businesses, and governments responded to the pandemic in programs. Majority of the beneficiaries mentioned that they already various ways. The study was to establish how farmers, urban and peri- enjoyed government support for food crop production through access to urban consumers, aggregators, and processors responded to the free seed and subsidized fertilizer. This happened in countries where pandemic. Urban agriculture contributes to improved food and nutri- governments included beans as part of food relief packages. Other tional security in most cities across the world. Thus, for consumers benefits mentioned by the farmers include seed price subsidies, owning home garden, we asked them to state whether they made any increased access to labour possibly due to closure of schools and non- changes to home garden during the pandemic. The salient finding is that farm business, supply of irrigation water, and facilitation to access most urban consumers who increased the size home garden for with digital agronomic information about bean production. view of supplementing household food supplies during the were able Concerns about the impact of the pandemic on food distribution and increase bean consumption. Consumers who increased size of home consumption can be addressed by supporting downstream activities garden as a pathway for reducing financial burden on food supplies were such as aggregation, trade, processing, and bean coordination programs. able to maintain/stabilize the level of bean consumption before the These stakeholders are not only important in facilitating the movement pandemic. On the other hand, those that increased home garden for of food products along the value chain, but also key supporters in up- fresh and healthy foods ate less bean in during the pandemic. The results stream activities such as grain and seed production, and provision of imply that access to food during the pandemic mattered most in market information. Aggregators are critical in grain bulking thus, reducing food-consumption impacts of the pandemic than access to fresh supporting them through public-private partnerships in the face of the and healthier food. In other words, these results are also plausible pandemic is crucial in addressing the disruption in grain supply and because kitchen gardens may have enabled urban and peri-urban con- trade. Nonetheless, the aggregators in the seven out of the nine countries sumers to overcome reduced availability challenges due to restricted mentioned that they had not received business contracts to provide grain transportation or high grain prices. Besides expansion of kitchen garden, for food emergency supply purposes. While aggregators who received a few urban and peri-urban households in Kenya, DR Congo, and Uganda government business contracts to provide relief food during the received relief food from governments. pandemic supplied less than 1000 metric tons of bean grain. The onset of COVID-19 in SSA found many countries in the region Aggregators in Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, and Burundi indicated that already grappling with the challenge of boosting the agricultural sector there were no government incentives supporting aggregators and from the adverse effects of climate change, pest and diseases, and civic traders, their counterparts in Tanzania acknowledged government sup- insecurity issues. For instance, the Horn of Africa and part of Eastern port during the pandemic. Tanzanian aggregator reported that they Africa was experiencing locust invasion, prolonged droughts, and con- benefited from the government’s fuel price subsidy and favourable flicts that were projected to constrict the expansion of agricultural financing opportunities during the pandemic. The three aggregators in production (Blanke, 2020). Agriculture in the region is dominated by Zimbabwe mentioned that they benefited from new policies and in- smallholder farmers that are disproportionately affected by the adverse centives on certified seed production, favourable financing opportu- effects of climate change and internal conflicts. The pandemic represents nities, and new market opportunities provided by the Zimbabwean a significant challenge to agriculture and food production in the region. government since the beginning of the pandemic. Cognisant of the pandemic’s effects on agriculture, governments across Furthermore, bean research coordinators in Burundi, Democratic the region identified priority areas that commanded immediate address Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, reported that their gov- to improve the resilience of the sector to COVID-19 related effect. The ernments had implemented various incentives to support bean produc- farmers, processors, aggregators, and coordinators were aware of their tion during the pandemic. For instance, according to the bean research governments’ support and the benefits derived from such support. coordinator in Burundi, the Burundian government provided favourable Farmers in Cameroon, Mozambique, DR Congo, and Burundi were prices on fertilizer, introduced new production subsidy policies, and hardly aware of government support to the agricultural sector during the ensured reasonable price of bean grain in the market. In Tanzania, the pandemic. Nearly one-quarter of the surveyed farmers in Kenya, 33% in government also ensured reasonable price of beans in the market, while Tanzania, 12% in Uganda, 58% in Zimbabwe, and all farmers in Zambia the Zimbabwean government ensured availability of water for conser- were aware of government support in the agricultural sector during the vation agriculture through irrigation, provided new production subsidy 10 E.B. Nchanji et al. A g r i c u l t u r a l S y s t e m s 188 (2021) 103034 framework for agricultural inputs, ensured that bean was reasonably wheat in India respectively. Furthermore, consumers’ incomes are lost priced in the market., and also increased demand for beans in the as a result of the farm closure and non-farm business. These imply that market. According to the surveyed bean research coordinators, these consumers, food and non-food actor, are impacted adversely. The con- interventions cushioned farmers by lowering production costs and sequences of the pandemic on production, distribution, and consump- increased access to agronomic information. tion of beans and other food items is a threat to the achievement of SDGs None of the processors and mechanization providers in Tanzania nor targeting eradication of hunger and poverty in SSA (FAO, 2020). Thus, processors of bean products were aware of any government programs to the pandemic is expected to increase food and nutritional insecurity in support their businesses during the pandemic. Additionally, processors the region in the short-term and long-term. in Tanzania, Burundi, Zimbabwe, and Uganda reported that the gov- ernment did not purchase any processed product from them as relief 4. Conclusion and policy implications food. However, at the business level, mechanization providers in Tanzania have created the video user manual that they share with The outbreak and subsequent spread of the pandemic has not only farmers on social media whenever they buy threshers. In addition, one of imposed a significant burden on the global health care system but has the mechanization dealers in Tanzania also indicated that they are also posed a challenge in all segments of agriculture and food systems registering farmers for mechanization through mobile phone and pay- across the world. The immediate impact of the pandemic was initially ments are done through mobile money transfers. On the other hand, projected to destabilize the agricultural sector in developing countries as aggregators from Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe a result of their low resilience to production shocks and a myriad of mentioned that they have developed innovative ways for doing business other bottlenecks that existed before COVID-19. The magnitude of the as a result of the pandemic. Some of the innovations adopted by immediate impact of the pandemic varies depending on the public aggregators to conduct business amidst the pandemic are using digital health policies from various governments in combating the spread of the and technical innovations such as social media marketing to reach the virus. Social distancing, movement restrictions, border closure, quar- buyers. antine, are some of the shocks to production, distribution, and con- sumption of agricultural produce. As a result, we focused on the 3.2. Discussion immediate impacts created by the pandemic on food systems in SSA. The results reveal that bean value chains in Eastern and Southern The pandemic has not only caused an ongoing crisis in the health Africa face production bottlenecks linked to the disruption caused by the care sector but has also had immediate and widespread impact on pandemic and government restrictions. Farmers, aggregators, and bean Africa’s agriculture and food systems (Ayanlade and Radeny, 2020). research coordinators confirmed that access to labour and input supplies Although some countries in SSA have begun easing the restrictions put were greatly disrupted, transportation of farm produce was impacted, in place to curb the spread of the virus, the impact on bean production, price of agricultural inputs skyrocketed, and grain demand plummeted, distribution, and consumption remain in the short-term and long-term. resulting in projected production losses. Secondly, the shutdown of most This is because recovery from the immediate impact of the pandemic economies in Eastern and Southern Africa disrupted the bean supply will be slow and uncertain. Direct and indirect effects across the bean chain with aggregation, distribution, and processing of bean grain value chain will still be experienced as the most African economies greatly affected. Aggregators are experiencing logistic challenges in struggle to revert to their pre-COVID-19 growth level. accessing production hubs and transporting the produce to points of The results presented in this paper show that impact of the pandemic sale. SME processors are affected by labour shortages and high cost on on bean production are inextricably linked to pre-existing bean value available labour. Furthermore, bean consumption patterns have chain situations. In other words, the pandemic has exacerbated the moderately changed, especially in urban and peri-urban areas due to challenges the agricultural sector faced before COVID-19. First, the market closure and restricted transportation, and high food prices. immediate impact of the pandemic is the disruption of the supply of However, the immediate impact of the pandemic and government essential yield-increasing inputs such as fertilizer and certified seed (AU, restrictions to curb the spread of the virus are further magnifying the 2020; OECD, 2020c). The consequence of these disruption on input already existing agricultural production challenges in the region. Prior supply is due to an increase in input prices. Furthermore, the results to the pandemic, the bean value chain in SSA was already faced with low reveal challenges in logistics and transport resulting in a glut supply at utilization of yield-enhancing technology (improved seed and fertilizer). bean production hubs, leading to low demand and low farmgate/rural Additionally, the sector was grappling with locust invasion coupled with prices across the regions (GAIN, 2020; International Trade Centre, 2020; adverse effects of climate change and weather variability. Thus, the OECD, 2020c). As reported by all bean value chain stakeholder in the pandemic exacerbated the effects of the challenges that the agricultural nine countries, the pandemic and government movement bans and in- sector in the region was exposed to. crease in public transportation costs have caused reduction in affordable Government policies for combating the impact of the pandemic on and available labour and mobility (Stephens et al., 2020). These impacts bean values chain are inextricably linked to the pre-COVID-19 chal- affect family-based bean farming enterprises whose direct effect is a lenges that existed in the bean production, distribution, and consump- drop in household income, individual and household purchasing power, tion. The disruptions caused by the pandemic are simultaneously and limited access to traded food. The indirect effect of bean production affecting the bean supply chain. The implications for these findings are disruptions is reduced food availability and steady supply. that the challenges are complex and pose an additional threat to the The immediate impact of the strict public health policies such as achievement of sustainable development goals of ending hunger and quarantine after local, national, and regional travel has undoubtedly poverty in SSA. The significance of these descriptive findings is that in dropped the profitability and performance of Small Medium Enterprises the short-term to medium term, disruption of the bean values chain will (SMEs) such as grain distributors, aggregators, and transporters (Béné, create a temporary surplus for bean producers and deny them the pur- 2020). Also, the risk of exposure to the disease has almost halted busi- chasing power and improvements in food security. In contrast, the ness operations for both formal and informal retailing SMEs, vendors, pandemic will create food shortages for consumers because of limited and processors. Similar results were reported by Mahajan and Tomar access and availability of food. The pandemic also threatens to halt (2020) who explained that a drop in supply of fresh food following operations of business operators, especially SMEs in bean processing. imposition of first lockdown in India. These shocks contribute to For these reasons, these challenges need to be addressed. increased food prices and disrupted access to food outlets for consumers. Governments could play a significant role in supporting the needs of This finding is in line with Narayanan and Saha (2020) and Varshney smallholder farmers, traders and other actors. First, existing input sub- et al. (2020) who reported that lockdowns increased prices of pulses and sidy programs and relief packages need to be strengthened to ensure 11 E.B. Nchanji et al. A g r i c u l t u r a l S y s t e m s 188 (2021) 103034 adequate supply of affordable inputs to most vulnerable bean farming AU, 2020. White Paper on the COVID-19 Crisis and the Seed Sector in Africa: Impact, households. This would promote and fast-track recovery of bean pro- Options for Actions and Recommendations. Retrieved from. https://au.int/sites/defa ult/files/documents/39568-doc-white_paper_on_covid_rev1.pdf. duction. 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A farm- possible, offer warehouse receipts and vouchers to facilitate access to level assessment of labor and mechanization in eastern and southern Africa. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 39 (17), 1–13. both input and output markets. Furthermore, insurance, financial, and Béné, C., 2020. Resilience of local food systems and links to food security–a review of tax incentives, as well as digital capacity building programs should be some important concepts in the context of COVID-19 and other shocks. Food Secur. extended to cushion and enhance resilience of producers and distribu- 1–18. Blanke, J., 2020. Economic Impact of COVID-19: Protecting Africa’s Food Systems From tors in the agricultural value chain. Governments should also consider a Farm to Fork. Retrieved from. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/ win-win situation for all bean value chain actors by encouraging and 2020/06/19/economic-impact-of-covid-19-protecting-africas-food-systems-from-fa supporting bulk purchasing, onward distribution of grain, and rm-to-fork/. Brahmbhatt, M., Dutta, A., 2008. On SARS Type Economic Effects During Infectious controlled pricing. These would not only reduce the impact the Disease Outbreaks. Policy Research Working Paper 4466. The World Bank. pandemic production and bean business, but also improve food and CCAFS, 2020. How We Can Use the COVID-19 Disruption to Improve Food Systems and nutritional security by keeping price increase at minimum. Address the Climate Emergency. 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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial Retrieved from. https://www.worldseed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/20200 interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence 409-Brief-Seed-Movement-under-COVID-19.pdf. International Trade Centre, 2020. COVID-19: The Great Lockdown and its Impact on the work reported in this paper. Small Business. Retrieved from. https://www.intracen.org/uploadedFiles/intrace norg/Content/Publications/ITCSMECO2020.pdf. Katungi, E., Farrow, A., Mutuoki, T., Gebeyehu, S., Karanja, D., Alamayehu, F., Acknowledgements Buruchara, R., 2010. Improving common bean productivity: An Analysis of socioeconomic factors in Ethiopia and Eastern Kenya. Baseline Report Tropical We acknowledge technical support from the Pan-African Beans legumes II. CIAT, Cali, Colombia. Kell, F., 2020. Tanzania Evades COVID-19 Lockdown, but Restrictions Persist. Chatham Research Alliance (PABRA) through the Alliance of Bioversity Interna- House. Retrieved from. https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/05/tanzania-evades- tional and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and covid-19-lockdown-restrictions-persist. financial support from Global Affairs Canada and the Swiss Agency for KPMG, 2020. Zimbabwe: Government and Institution Measures in Response to COVID- 19. Retrieved from. https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2020/04/zimba Development and Cooperation (SDC) to undertake this study. We also bwe-government-and-institution-measures-in-response-to-covid.html. thank the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for funding the publication Mahajan, K., Tomar, S., 2020. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: COVID-19 and Supply Chain of this paper under the “Accelerated varietal improvement and seed Disruption. Working Paper No. 28. Ashoka University, Department of Economics. delivery of legumes and cereals in Africa” project. Many thanks go to Mbewa, D.O., 2020, July 8. 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