The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) analysts have said there had been no major signs so far that Covid-19 was causing food shortages or price increases in affected areas, as was the case with previous pandemics such as SARS, avian influenza and MERS.
Even in China, the worst affected country where the virus originated, food supplies had overall remained adequate despite poultry and pork supply chains coming under some stress, they outlined in a blog post.
American pork producers were warning that Covid-19 could cause “serious market disruption” for the US pork industry due to impacts on labour supply, with “dire financial consequences for hog farmers and their communities.” The warning came from National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) President Howard A.V. Roth in a March 10 letter to President Donald Trump, other government officials and state governors.
US farmers’ representatives were also pushing for legislation to ensure there are enough labourers on farms. As farmers prepare to plant this spring, Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), said many were “weary of facing yet another year without enough workers to help them plant and harvest.”
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