Impact of COVID-19 on informal workers

The COVID-19 pandemic is a major economic and labour market shock, presenting significant impacts in terms of unemployment and underemployment for informal workers. In rural areas, the livelihoods of especially the self-employed and wage workers are at risk, because agri-food supply chains and markets are being disrupted due to lockdowns and restrictions of movement. Families might resort to negative coping strategies such as distress sale of assets, taking out loans from informal moneylenders, or child labour. Specific groups of workers, including women, youth, children, indigenous people, and migrant workers, who are overrepresented in the informal economy, will experience further exacerbation of their vulnerability. Response measures should foster the expansion of social protection coverage to informal workers in agriculture and rural sectors, including timely cash transfers, food or in-kind distributions. Specific measures should be tailored towards women workers with care responsibilities at home, families that may resort to child labour as a coping strategy, as well as other vulnerable subgroups. Efforts should be made to maintain agricultural supply chains and strengthen the market linkages for local producers, while promoting decent work.

Contact Persons: Hitomi Ho, Rural Youth Employment Officer and Ileana Grandelis, Programme Officer, Social Policies and Rural Institutions Division, FAO

Migrant workers and the COVID-19 pandemic

The policy brief reviews the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants working in agri-food systems and their families in rural areas of origin. It points out some of the policy implications and presents key policy recommendations. Measures affecting the movement of people (internally and internationally) and resulting labour shortages, will have an impact on agricultural value chains, affecting food availability and market prices globally.

At the same time, large shares of migrants work under informal or casual arrangements, which leave them unprotected, vulnerable to exploitation, poverty and food insecurity, and often without access to healthcare, social protection and the measures being put in place by governments.

Contact Person: Cristina Rapone, Migration and Employment Specialist, Social Policies and Rural Institutions Division, FAO

Social Protection and COVID-19 response in rural areas

Measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 include strong restrictions of movement which dramatically change daily lives and impact agricultural livelihoods. These measures are particularly difficult for the rural poorest and most vulnerable, who tend to hold jobs and occupations which cannot be performed remotely. . Many of the world’s poor depend on public spaces and movement for their livelihoods, including seasonal agricultural work and traveling to markets to sell or buy produce and/or inputs, etc.

This briefs explains how social protection measures could shield the rural poor from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, while providing a series of social protection measures countries adopted around the world as a response to COVID-19.

Contact Persons: Natalia Winder Rossi, Senior Adviser/Social Protection Team Leader, and Ana Ocampo, Social Protection Officer, Social Policies and Rural Institutions Division, FAO

National agricultural census operations and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is also affecting agricultural census activities. 

Currently, 62 countries are preparing (45 countries) or have conducted (17 countries) censuses of agriculture in the WCA 2020 round. A rapid appraisal and informal consultations with national agricultural census authorities reveal that some 34 countries reported delays or suspension of several census activities. Countries that have started or were about to start fieldwork and census enumeration have put these activities on hold until the crisis is over. 

Most countries agreed that the full impact on the preparation and implementation of national censuses will depend on the evolution of the crisis.

Contact Person: Jairo Castano, Senior Statistician and leader of the Census Team, Statistics Division, FAO

Legal considerations in the context of responses to COVID-19 to mitigate the risk of food insecurity

In the wake of the global pandemic, COVID-19, Countries are taking measures to halt its spread. However, such measures can have unintended consequences for food security, namely availability, access, utilization and stability of food supplies at global, national, local levels. Therefore, countries need to know and take into account the human right to food in adopting such measures to safeguard the same in those measures to avoid potential food shortages and disruptions in the supply chain.

Therefore, the following legal recommendations should be understood in the context of the legal frameworks that countries already have in place, and as part of governments’ efforts to strengthen emergency preparedness legislation. It is expected that these recommendations will contribute to increasing the resilience of livelihoods to crises of all kinds that poses a threat to food security.

Contact Person: Blaise Kuemlangan, Chief, Development Law Service, Legal Office, FAO