Session 11: COVID-19 Impact on Households
Moderator:
Yasmin Siddiqi



Impact of COVID-19 and Locust Swarms on Farm Households in Punjab and Sindh, Pakistan

Based on surveys of than 800 farmers Punjab and Sindh provinces in Pakistan, this paper examines the impact of the nationwide lockdown in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the locust invasion on rural households. The results show that more than half of farm households reported lower food consumption and one third of farm households reported earning losses, mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown significantly disrupted food supply chains across all major agricultural products including wheat, vegetables, fruits, and milk with most respondents reporting being unable to market their produce. Severe locust invasions were observed in Sindh province with 73.7% of respondents having observed locust invasions in their area. Urgent government response is needed to offset the negative effects of COVID-19 and the locust attacks.

Author/s:

Noriko Sato, Takashi Yamano, and Babur Wasim


JEL codes: 012, 013