Abstract
While the health impact of COVID-19 in most African countries appears modest, the impact of social distancing measures, closing of markets and reduced mobility is felt across the board. Domestic, labor-intensive and traditional food value chains and the smallholders they serve appear to be particularly affected. During a systemic shock where idiosyncratic risk coping strategies fail, collective or organizational resilience becomes of the essence to protect the livelihoods of smallholders. In this study, we have used pre- and during-shock data on agricultural cooperatives from Southeast Africa to understand how resilient these smallholder-owned organizations are. We find that many organizations could not countervail market-disruptions and fell into a state of dormancy during the pandemic. One reason for this is that collective decision-making was heavily affected by the banning of gatherings. Only a few organizations devised innovative solutions to maintain the market linkages of rural smallholders. The lack of resilience demonstrated by most cooperatives appears to be associated with organizational immaturity, large membership size, elite capture and limited business-orientation, which underscore a general lack of managerial capital.
Highlights
Domestic, labor-intensive and traditional food value chains and the smallholders they serve appear to be affected
The lack of resilience demonstrated by most cooperatives appears to be associated with organizational immaturity, large membership size, elite capture and limited business-orientation, which underscore a general lack of managerial capital
We contribute to filling this gap in the literature using pre- and during-shock data collected from the leaders of farmer-owned organizations in Southeast Africa. We find that these organizations have come up with innovative solutions to mitigate some of the impacts of the pandemic but that these attempts are constrained by a general lack of managerial capital
Summary
Even if the number of COVID-19 infections reported from Africa remains relatively low, concerns are growing about how the pandemic will affect the continent’s already fragile food systems. We find that these organizations have come up with innovative solutions to mitigate some of the impacts of the pandemic but that these attempts are constrained by a general lack of managerial capital. Because these traditional and labor-intensive organizations are heavily affected by the crisis and to sustain an already fragile domestic food system, governments would do well to factor in farmerowned organizations in their COVID-19 response. Efforts to build the managerial capital of rural communities can, for example, involve the recruitment or professionalization of business-managers as well as the digitization of internal and external communication
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
