Managing disruptions of COVID-19 on agricultural supply chains

Abstract

In addition to public health of people, the COVID-19 pandemic which was undertaken from the beginning of the year 2020 has caused major impacts on different economic sectors in Sri Lanka as well as in other countries. It is no exception to the Agriculture sector. Agricultural supply chains are instrumental in bringing farm produce to the market places. Farmers scattered across the country and logistic suppliers facilitate bringing the fresh and processed produced to the market place where multifunctional wholesalers and retailers cater the needs of variety of customers. COVID-19 pandemic has affected the livelihood of people all across the globe in different ways. Especially, food supplies were disturbed due to lockdown, restricted movements, curfew and other health regulations. Farmers were seriously affected with the disconnected supply chains in one hand. On the other hand, consumers based on cities and urban areas were unable to link into the market and food supplies. Income generation of the farmers was decline sharply pushing them towards to more vulnerable groups of the society. Consumption patterns were changed and depend on what is available locally. Food and nutritional security of both beginning and ending nodes of supply chain affected badly and created huge social issue. Therefore, modifications into the supply chain model develop strategic interventions to manage smooth supply chains and transformation of existing supply chain structure was recognized as an important issue to intervene in all levels. Current, study aimed to identify strategic interventions of agricultural supply chains to manage the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Special attention has paid to identify the stepping up of digital solution providers to fill the voids caused by the pandemic and improvement of smart supply chains and positive and negative impacts of the digitalization of agricultural markets.