COVID-19 Impact on Agricultural Cooperatives: Round Three Brief

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This brief highlights the main findings from the third out of three rounds of data collection of a study designed to determine the impacts of COVID-19 on agricultural cooperatives.

94% of surveyed cooperatives reported that COVID-19 continues to impact their operations. This remained the same across all three survey rounds. In Round Two and Round Three, only 5 cooperatives of the 89 sampled report experiencing no negative effects of COVID on their cooperative operations. Those who have not yet experienced any negative impacts of COVID-19 remained the same across rounds and are in the following countries and value chains: dairy, coffee and maize in Tanzania.

SUMMARY: OVERALL TRENDS AND OBSERVATIONS
Across the three rounds of data collection, we observe several patterns of change and can identify impacts
That is likely to be long-term on cooperative operations as a result of COVID-19.

  • Despite government restrictions, decreasing, the impact of COVID-19 on cooperative operations has increased in severity across survey rounds.
  • The slowdown in operations due to mobility issues and social distancing has increased steadily across the three rounds. It is possible this will continue to increase as an impact for cooperatives moving forward.
  • Illness or absence of cooperative staff decreased significantly and is one of the least reported impacts of COVID-19 on cooperative operations. This indicates that impacts of COVID-19 are not due to staff related illness or delays, but rather the adjustment cooperatives are making to ensure the safety of their members while maintaining cooperative operations as possible.
  • The data show that cooperative members are increasingly reporting lower household incomes as a result of COVID-19. It is possible this trend will continue, which could impact the extent to which members can and will invest in the cooperative. Only 1.1% of cooperatives in Round Three reported that members are leaving the cooperative entirely.

For more information click here usaid_covid_impact-survey-round-three-brief_final