Reena das Nair and Aarti Krishnan
Restrictions on movement, curfews, remote working and social distancing in the transition from lockdown is changing the way consumers access food. This will be the reality for a prolonged period to prevent new waves of virus infections in South Africa. Low-income consumers in township, peri-urban and rural areas are particularly vulnerable, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in food systems, like growers, processors, wholesalers, retailers (both formal and informal), fast-food outlets and restaurants, are at risk if they cannot rapidly adapt to changing consumption patterns.
Andrew Bowman and Reena das Nair
COVID-19 has prompted widespread discussion of the resilience of food systems and how efficiency and competitiveness have been previously understood. Recent decades have seen the growth of increasingly complex food value chains. These are underpinned by just-in-time delivery systems, a growing share of food products sold through supermarkets, and increasing concentration of ownership among powerful, large food manufacturers.
Reena das Nair
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed numerous limits and constraints within our food system, and what the consequences can be for ordinary people as well as the businesses active in the food economy. What opportunities are there to overcome these through innovations in technology, operations, business models and approaches? How do legal and regulatory requirements encourage or constrain these innovations? Are there new ways of thinking and new models emerging because of the pandemic that give us a sense of what the future might bring?
Shingie Chisoro-Dube, Namhla Landani, and Simon Roberts
COVID-19 is leading to widespread questioning of food systems and the ways in which efficiency and competitiveness have been understood. While industries have been massively disrupted, there are some such as citrus which have been resilient. With appropriate interventions, there is growth even under COVID-19 and further strong potential beyond the crisis. The Innovation and Inclusion in Agro-processing Project has set out four key measures to support local capabilities and greater inclusion of small and medium growers in export markets, with creation of substantial new jobs.
Andrew Bowman and Reena das Nair
COVID-19 is prompting widespread questioning of food systems and the ways efficiency and competitiveness have been previously understood (Ruben et al, 2020; IPES-Food, 2020; Farley & Scherr, 2020). Recent decades have seen increasing concentration among powerful large firms, the growth of complex global value chains underpinned by just-in-time systems, and pressure to deliver lower prices, higher levels of processing and greater convenience alongside retail supermarketisation. This creates challenges ranging from ecological sustainability to public health.
Reena das Nair and Aarti Krishnan
Restrictions on movement, curfews, remote working and social distancing in the transition from lockdown is changing the way consumers access food. This will be the reality for a prolonged period to prevent new waves of virus infections in South Africa. Low-income consumers in township, peri-urban and rural areas are particularly vulnerable, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in food systems, like growers, processors, wholesalers, retailers (both formal and informal), fast-food outlets and restaurants, are at risk if they cannot rapidly adapt to changing consumption patterns.
Teboho Bosiu
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unfortunate wakeup call regarding the state of enterprise funding in South Africa, although the crisis also presents a unique opportunity for development finance to play a critical role in reviving economic activity and achieving structural transformation in the economy. To do this, the forms and nature of funding need to change to align with what the evidence suggests businesses actually need to be sustainable.
Jason F Bell
The COVID-19 pandemic will have an immediate and long-lasting economic impact on the South African economy in the coming months. We need to collectively consider how to rapidly reopen and safely ramp up production in the economy’s already struggling manufacturing sector, post the lockdown. The economic disruption caused by the pandemic presents some opportunities to restructure production systems and for export growth and import substitution, which must be explored. The reopening of the economy will not be business as usual, and, notably, the pandemic has had a significant negative impact on manufacturing activity in many leading manufacturing economies such as China.
Reena das Nair
The formal supermarket chains are not the main lifeline for many small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) producing and processing food. These SMEs primarily sell through alternative routes to market such as independent wholesalers, cash and carrys, independent retailers, informal spaza shops, street vendors or directly to consumers within communities. These SMEs, who are already vulnerable in our food production system, will struggle to survive if they and their alternative routes to market are not supported during this time.
