Open AccessThe Agonies of Covid 19 on Vegetable Farmers Along the White Volta River Basin in the Upper East Region of Ghana
Author(s) -
Benjamin Bilalam Jabik
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of managing value and supply chains
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2230-7966
pISSN - 0976-979X
DOI - 10.5121/ijmvsc.2021.12301
Subject(s) - agriculture , livestock , geography , consumption (sociology) , agricultural economics , economic shortage , covid-19 , irrigation , agricultural science , socioeconomics , environmental science , economics , agronomy , forestry , biology , social science , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , sociology , government (linguistics) , medicine , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
The emergence of COVID 19 coupled with the enforcement of its safety protocols, coincided with the peak of harvesting and saleof perishable vegetables in the 2020 dry season farming period in the Upper East Region of Ghana.Using a qualitative approach, this study investigates the effects of the pandemic on vegetable farmers along the White Volta River Basin in the Region. The findings are that there weredisrupted supply and demand in the production-consumption chain resulting in low sales; a shortage of hired labor; and high stigmatization. Farmers had few alternatives other than to leave their food stuff to rot on the farm, use the produce to feed livestock, or smuggleof the produce across borders. The implications are that the COVID 19 pandemic compounded the susceptibility of small-scale vegetable farmers in the region. Their resilience and household income levels are adversely affected.