Short-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihood of smallholder rice farmers in developing countries

The COVID-19 pandemic is a major international health crisis which has resulted in simultaneous economic, social and food security crises. This study aimed to provide a snapshot of the short-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on smallholder rice farmers in Côte d’Ivoire. Using three survey types (village-level, farmer association level, and household level), a total of 585 rice farmers were interviewed nine months after the starting of the pandemic in Cote d’Ivoire. Multivariate probit and Poisson regression models were used to analyze the determinants of the impact of the pandemic on farmers and the intensity of the impact, respectively. Results showed that all rice farmers were aware of coronavirus disease, and television and radio were the main sources of knowledge of the pandemic. After one growing season, the pandemic had negative impact on access to inputs, access to hired labor, yield, income and food security. Around 43% of farmers experienced at least one negative impact of the pandemic. About 30% of farmers perceived that the rice yield and income decreased due to the pandemic. Access to inputs and hired labor became more difficult and expensive for about 28% of farmers. Surprisingly, farmers in more remote villages were also affected by the pandemic as well. The main factors that influenced significantly and positively the intensity of the pandemic impact were the household size, being married, being producer of foundation seed, access to credit in the past, facing drought or flood as constraints. The facilitation of credit access for smallholder farmers could be one strategy to avoid food shortages and deficits among value chain actors

The adoption and impacts of improved parboiling technology for rice value chain upgrading on the livelihood of women rice parboilers in Benin

Food insecurity and child malnutrition remain persistent problems in sub-Saharan Africa. Rice is a staple food for more than half of the world’s population. However, white rice is poor in micronutrients and records higher glycemic values compared to parboiled rice. An improved parboiling system called “Grain quality enhancer, Energy-efficient and durable Material” (GEM in short) allows the processing of quality rice with better physical and nutritional properties compared to traditional systems. This paper assessed the drivers and impact of the adoption of the GEM system on women’s livelihoods. A total of 822 rice women parboilers were randomly sampled and interviewed in Benin, in regions where the GEM system was introduced. We employed the endogenous switching regression model (ESR) to assess the impact of the GEM system. We found evidence that adoption of the GEM system increased women parboilers’ rice output rate (dehulling return), income and food security and reduced poverty. The impact of the GEM system is estimated at 14.38 kg of milled rice per 100 kg of paddy (21.46%), equivalent to US$ 7.25 of additional income (17.77%). A significantly lower poverty rate of 26% was found among households due to the adoption of the GEM system. These results are supported by women’s perceptions that the output rate, better nutritional value and reduction of broken rice during dehulling are major advantages of the improved parboiling system. Policy actions such as training of local fabricators and credit options are required for out-scaling and sustainability of the improved parboiling system