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See Again
© Shutterstock
0 / 31 Fotos
Production
- Many countries around the world rely on temporary migrant workers for planting and harvesting crops. In Australia, for example, 50% of farmworkers are temporary migrants.
© Shutterstock
1 / 31 Fotos
Production - With Covid-19 severely limiting these workers’ ability to travel, many farms across the world have experienced a shortage of people to work their crops.
© Shutterstock
2 / 31 Fotos
Production
- In Europe, for example, it is estimated that there has been an overall shortfall of more than one million seasonal workers.
© Getty Images
3 / 31 Fotos
Production
- In order to combat the shortage of farm labor, many governments launched aggressive recruitment campaigns to find “agricultural armies” closer to home.
© Shutterstock
4 / 31 Fotos
Production
- Even with such initiatives, the problem continues, and some have argued for a move towards the mechanization of planting and harvesting crops.
© Shutterstock
5 / 31 Fotos
Production
- In New Zealand, the innovative company Robotics Plus has built a prototype of a robot that can pick kiwis. The company is currently working on robots that can pick other crops.
© Shutterstock
6 / 31 Fotos
Production
- The problem with relying on such robotized agriculture is that it is only accessible to the wealthiest of farmers and therefore does not provide a solution for those of lesser means.
© Shutterstock
7 / 31 Fotos
Production
- In addition to labor shortages, there were early concerns about a shortage of fertilizers coming out of China. Since China came out of lockdown, however, these concerns have diminished.
© Shutterstock
8 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- In terms of food processing, the main impact of Covid-19 has been seen in meat processing facilities, which have been heavily affected by social distancing and labor shortages.
© Shutterstock
9 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- Meat processing plants tend to be confined spaces, and so strict social distancing rules are necessary for workers’ safety. Enforcing these can significantly reduce operational efficiency.
© Shutterstock
10 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- Furthermore, despite the implementation of strict social distancing measures, clusters of the virus have been found in meat processing plants in several countries.
© Shutterstock
11 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- This may be because the machines in processing plants are very noisy, which forces workers to shout and therefore expel more virus particles than usual.
© Shutterstock
12 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- In many cases, plants have been shut down or made to operate at reduced capacity. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), cattle and pig slaughter in the US was 40% less in April 2020 than in April 2019.
© Shutterstock
13 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- In fact, the US appears to have been hit particularly hard when it comes to meat production, perhaps because their processing is concentrated in just a small number of plants.
© Getty Images
14 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- Across the US, meat producers have been forced to take the drastic approach of euthanizing unsold grown animals in order to prevent overcrowding.
© Shutterstock
15 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- Other food processing operations have been affected by Covid-19 too, although to a lesser extent. Grain handling, for example, is less labor intensive and has therefore taken a lesser hit.
© Shutterstock
16 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- In terms of food transportation, there are three main ways to take food from A to B: bulk (ships and barges), containers (by boat, rail, or truck) and other road transport, and air freight.
© Shutterstock
17 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- Cereals and oil seeds are normally shipped in bulk, meat and dairy in refrigerated containers and trucks, and perishable products in the carriage of passenger airplanes.
© Shutterstock
18 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- While bulk shipments have seen no severe disruptions, the stark reduction in passenger flights has resulted in major disruptions to the air freight transportation network.
© Shutterstock
19 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- Transportation by container has been affected more than bulk shipments, but less than air freight. Commercial road transport in April 2020 was roughly 20% lower than normal in both Canada and the US.
© Shutterstock
20 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- The food type most heavily affected by transport disruptions is therefore perishable goods, such as fruits and vegetables. Cereal supplies, by contrast, have not been severely impacted.
© Shutterstock
21 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- Some local farmers are capitalizing on the way in which Covid-19 has affected the transportation of food supplies, and are using it to show that we should all be buying hyper-local.
© Shutterstock
22 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- There has also been a renewed interest in the possibility of underground farming as a way to make better use of the resources available to us.
© Getty Images
23 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- The pandemic triggered a sharp increase in the number of people cooking at home. When lockdowns were enforced in the middle of March 2020, restaurant reservations fell to nearly zero.
© Shutterstock
24 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- This brought with it a few important changes to the way food supply chains operate. As the sales of “food away from home” dwindled, the retail demand for food skyrocketed.
© Getty Images
25 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- There was a sharp increase in the sale of frozen and packaged foods. For example, in the second half of March 2020 sales of frozen foods in France were 63% higher than the year before.
© Shutterstock
26 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- In the same period in Germany, sales of packaged foods were 56% higher year-on-year. Similar changes in consumer behavior were also seen in other countries.
© Shutterstock
27 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- Such a shift in demand is not easy for supply chains to absorb, not least because products that would normally go to restaurants cannot always be sold to retailers for the same price.
© Getty Images
28 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- For example, restaurants tend to use more cheese on pizzas than people do at home, meaning that restaurants need bigger blocks of cheese than retailers do.
© Shutterstock
29 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- Restaurants are also an important provider of resources to food banks, and with restaurants closed many food banks are going without at a time when their services are most needed. (BBC) (OECD) (Oxford Academic) See also: What are "essential items" in different countries.
© Getty Images
30 / 31 Fotos
© Shutterstock
0 / 31 Fotos
Production
- Many countries around the world rely on temporary migrant workers for planting and harvesting crops. In Australia, for example, 50% of farmworkers are temporary migrants.
© Shutterstock
1 / 31 Fotos
Production - With Covid-19 severely limiting these workers’ ability to travel, many farms across the world have experienced a shortage of people to work their crops.
© Shutterstock
2 / 31 Fotos
Production
- In Europe, for example, it is estimated that there has been an overall shortfall of more than one million seasonal workers.
© Getty Images
3 / 31 Fotos
Production
- In order to combat the shortage of farm labor, many governments launched aggressive recruitment campaigns to find “agricultural armies” closer to home.
© Shutterstock
4 / 31 Fotos
Production
- Even with such initiatives, the problem continues, and some have argued for a move towards the mechanization of planting and harvesting crops.
© Shutterstock
5 / 31 Fotos
Production
- In New Zealand, the innovative company Robotics Plus has built a prototype of a robot that can pick kiwis. The company is currently working on robots that can pick other crops.
© Shutterstock
6 / 31 Fotos
Production
- The problem with relying on such robotized agriculture is that it is only accessible to the wealthiest of farmers and therefore does not provide a solution for those of lesser means.
© Shutterstock
7 / 31 Fotos
Production
- In addition to labor shortages, there were early concerns about a shortage of fertilizers coming out of China. Since China came out of lockdown, however, these concerns have diminished.
© Shutterstock
8 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- In terms of food processing, the main impact of Covid-19 has been seen in meat processing facilities, which have been heavily affected by social distancing and labor shortages.
© Shutterstock
9 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- Meat processing plants tend to be confined spaces, and so strict social distancing rules are necessary for workers’ safety. Enforcing these can significantly reduce operational efficiency.
© Shutterstock
10 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- Furthermore, despite the implementation of strict social distancing measures, clusters of the virus have been found in meat processing plants in several countries.
© Shutterstock
11 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- This may be because the machines in processing plants are very noisy, which forces workers to shout and therefore expel more virus particles than usual.
© Shutterstock
12 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- In many cases, plants have been shut down or made to operate at reduced capacity. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), cattle and pig slaughter in the US was 40% less in April 2020 than in April 2019.
© Shutterstock
13 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- In fact, the US appears to have been hit particularly hard when it comes to meat production, perhaps because their processing is concentrated in just a small number of plants.
© Getty Images
14 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- Across the US, meat producers have been forced to take the drastic approach of euthanizing unsold grown animals in order to prevent overcrowding.
© Shutterstock
15 / 31 Fotos
Processing
- Other food processing operations have been affected by Covid-19 too, although to a lesser extent. Grain handling, for example, is less labor intensive and has therefore taken a lesser hit.
© Shutterstock
16 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- In terms of food transportation, there are three main ways to take food from A to B: bulk (ships and barges), containers (by boat, rail, or truck) and other road transport, and air freight.
© Shutterstock
17 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- Cereals and oil seeds are normally shipped in bulk, meat and dairy in refrigerated containers and trucks, and perishable products in the carriage of passenger airplanes.
© Shutterstock
18 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- While bulk shipments have seen no severe disruptions, the stark reduction in passenger flights has resulted in major disruptions to the air freight transportation network.
© Shutterstock
19 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- Transportation by container has been affected more than bulk shipments, but less than air freight. Commercial road transport in April 2020 was roughly 20% lower than normal in both Canada and the US.
© Shutterstock
20 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- The food type most heavily affected by transport disruptions is therefore perishable goods, such as fruits and vegetables. Cereal supplies, by contrast, have not been severely impacted.
© Shutterstock
21 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- Some local farmers are capitalizing on the way in which Covid-19 has affected the transportation of food supplies, and are using it to show that we should all be buying hyper-local.
© Shutterstock
22 / 31 Fotos
Distribution
- There has also been a renewed interest in the possibility of underground farming as a way to make better use of the resources available to us.
© Getty Images
23 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- The pandemic triggered a sharp increase in the number of people cooking at home. When lockdowns were enforced in the middle of March 2020, restaurant reservations fell to nearly zero.
© Shutterstock
24 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- This brought with it a few important changes to the way food supply chains operate. As the sales of “food away from home” dwindled, the retail demand for food skyrocketed.
© Getty Images
25 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- There was a sharp increase in the sale of frozen and packaged foods. For example, in the second half of March 2020 sales of frozen foods in France were 63% higher than the year before.
© Shutterstock
26 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- In the same period in Germany, sales of packaged foods were 56% higher year-on-year. Similar changes in consumer behavior were also seen in other countries.
© Shutterstock
27 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- Such a shift in demand is not easy for supply chains to absorb, not least because products that would normally go to restaurants cannot always be sold to retailers for the same price.
© Getty Images
28 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- For example, restaurants tend to use more cheese on pizzas than people do at home, meaning that restaurants need bigger blocks of cheese than retailers do.
© Shutterstock
29 / 31 Fotos
Demand
- Restaurants are also an important provider of resources to food banks, and with restaurants closed many food banks are going without at a time when their services are most needed. (BBC) (OECD) (Oxford Academic) See also: What are "essential items" in different countries.
© Getty Images
30 / 31 Fotos
The impact of Covid-19 on the global food chain
The multiple ways in which the pandemic has disrupted the food supply chain
© Shutterstock
Like its pandemic predecessors before it, the Covid-19 pandemic has dealt the world a massive economic blow. When it comes to food supply, the key issue is access: with millions of people losing their jobs, more and more people are at risk of food insecurity, and assistance programs are more important than ever.
But the pandemic has also caused significant disruption to the food supply chain itself. Key areas for concern include food production, processing, distribution, and consumer demand.
Check out this gallery to find out more about how the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the global food chain.
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