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Last week spent a few days catching up with colleagues in food production & #nutrition in #Africa. Just sharing notes on how they are managing given the pandemic & impact on biz. The news was not good and seems like we are all in same boat.
Working capital constraints,reduced revenue due to difficulty getting product to mkt,supply chain delays, increase in costs of raw materials, delays getting spares,equipment & even engineers in country to install due to travel restrictions,devaluation of currency (impacts imports
#COVID19 has created havoc for all our economies but this is also an opportune time to act to ensure local food systems work & are kept going to avert bigger problems later on - like hunger & food insecurity. We need to begin to support local SME’s better
Including tech support food safety, increase capacity for local testing, R&D(now is the time to really push to diversify our diets & come up w more nutritious products.Also need to focus on building supply chains better - foster p/ships & see if tech can help with distribution
Train our street vendors who sell a lot of food to consumers on nutrition & food safety but also encourage big retail to be fair & encourage more SMEs to become suppliers by reducing payment fees, shelf & other marketing fees which they charge.
On financial support - I have plenty to say. What can Govts do to reduce costs & taxes on nutritious foods in order to encourage consumption. A healthy nation means less money spent on fighting disease. Need for more nutrient dense foods at affordable price points available
Lastly sadly the people that need funding the most are the least likely to get it. The process to apply for loans/grants still cumbersome,complex & often expensive.Most SME’s are in growth stage,so still working towards profitability.Who is willing to take the risk? More thought
Needs to go into how to fund SME’s during and post COViD. Short term funding usually only works to put a plaster on the problem. What’s SME’s need is Ionger term, affordable (local currency would be great) funding. Softer terms esp given this crisis or perhaps guarantees
So long tweet I know but want to end by saying COVID is not just a health crisis but has great impact on food systems too.
