CIHEAM Press Review

The Lebanese agriculture and food production industry has come under multiple threats, and the coronavirus-spurred economic contraction has exacerbated the hit already laid upon the sector by the ongoing currency crisis. Experts warn that compounding issues in the country could lead to production decreases and further price increases in the coming months.
Food prices in the country are already on the rise as inflation has begun to soar and the local currency has lost half its value against the dollar.

Food losses and waste (FLW) have been a challenge in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region since long before the COVID-19, but this calamity, that rapidly became an economic crisis, is bringing disruptions to food systems that may manifest in greater levels of FLW. Containment and prevention measures are affecting the complex web of interactions along value chains, involving producers and input/service providers, intermediaries, and consumers.

The exportation of Malta’s most important cash crop, the humble potato, has been thrown into uncertainty this year due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The crop is worth about €2 million a year to Malta’s farmers. But while they have started to harvest potatoes for export to countries like Holland and Germany, this year they fear a drop in both demand and prices.
The situation is “very fluid and uncertain”, according to Malcolm Borg, head of the farmers’ lobby group Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi.

As the coronavirus drastically reorders society and economies, more Italians are returning to the agricultural jobs of their grandparents.

CORCOLLE, Italy — On a small farm outside Rome, workers crouched in the corridors of a cornfield and tended to stalks for the coming harvest. The ones from Morocco, Romania and Nigeria knew exactly what to do. It was the new Italian hires who needed help.

Cre­tan farm­ers said super­mar­kets cur­rently absorbs 30 per­cent of their pro­duc­tion of fruits and veg­eta­bles with the rest being unsold since many eater­ies and other food ser­vices are closed, while their coun­ter­parts in the Ilia region of the Pelo­pon­nese have already dis­carded part of their fresh crop of straw­ber­ries and zuc­chi­nis due to lim­ited demand.