How Has COVID Affected Food Supply Chains? – An Example From East Africa
The COVID pandemic has affected all of us, wherever we live in the world. In Africa, food insecurity has increased, but to what extent? Just how many people have become food-insecure over the past 18 months? What really happened to food supply chains during the pandemic? Furthermore, how can Insta-Pro assist with stopping food insecurity?
In East Africa, 25 food safety experts were interviewed late last year for their assessment of the risks to food safety. The results are revealing about food security, as well as food safety – you can view them online here.
- Curfews closed markets and popular outdoor restaurants. In addition, travel restrictions and a sharp reduction in purchasing power due to job and income loss, caused demand for food to drop
- Consumers over-stocked on food at home, when they could afford to do so, which ultimately led to more than normal food waste at the household level
- Livestock and cereal farmers faced a dramatic loss of demand, as people had less money, hotels and restaurants were closed, and farms could not to be visited
- In Africa, most livestock products and fresh produce are sold in traditional markets, where they get little attention from food safety inspectors
- Transport delays were caused by drivers having to take COVID-19 tests and the long time it took to get the results. This affected the supply of perishables, animal feed and grains
- The anti-COVID measures, such as numerous hand washing stations and restricted access to markets and slaughter plants, surely helped to improve food safety
As seen above, the food insecurities in East Africa provide both positive and negative results. On one hand, food safety has increased. On the other, increased food waste, loss of demand and decreased supply of perishables have led to food insecurity.
Insta-Pro offers a range of processing equipment for maize, sorghum, soybean, sunflowerseed, rapeseed, rice bran… as well as processes for fortified blended flour and soy pieces, and fish feed. All these processes help to increase food supply, provide markets for crop farmers and employment opportunities for the community.
Contact an Insta-Pro Sales Representative to learn more on how we can help make a difference by offering solutions for food insecurity.
