COVID-19 and the response of Ethiopian rural food systems
Final Report Abstract
Against the backdrop of multiple and overlapping global crises in Ethiopia, including the COVID-19 pandemic, political destabilization and natural disasters, this project focused on food systems as a lens for understanding the societal and economic impacts of these crises, and for identifying transformative potentials and the resilience of rural as well as urban communities. We conceptualize food systems as the relations and interdependencies between the production, marketing and consumption of food. The research questions of the project were the following: (1) How does COVID-19 affect food systems in urban and rural areas? (2) What explains social and spatial heterogeneity of food systems and vulnerability? (3) How do urban and rural food systems respond to challenges? Conceptually, the project adopted a political ecology approach with a focus on marginalization, inequality, and vulnerability at local to national levels of the food system. It also engaged with gender-sensitive and intersectional perspectives to critically examine how power dynamics, access to resources, and historical legacies contribute to uneven food system outcomes. This conceptual lens addressed the differentiated impacts and transformative potential of food systems in both rural and urban contexts. The study area included rural communities near Lake Tana in northern Ethiopia, as well as urban communities engaged in vegetable farming and the value chain in the capital city, Addis Ababa. The findings of the project illustrate the vulnerability of food systems in rural areas as well as in urban and peri-urban areas in Ethiopia. They show that the farming population, both men and women, plays an important role in supporting the food system, while rural people themselves and especially women often find themselves in precarious conditions and are particularly vulnerable to shocks.
Publications
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Working, Bending, Suffering. Roadsides(009).
Debarry, Annapia
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Local food system disruptions: insights from the effect of COVID-19 on the livelihood of smallholder farmers in Koga irrigation scheme, Amara Region, Ethiopia. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 8.
Gebreyes, Million; Müller-Mahn, Detlef; Teklu, Abyiot & Simane, Belay
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Urban Invisibles: Feminist perspectives on marginalization and resistance in Nairobi and Addis Ababa through the lens of embodied research practices. Urban Matters.
Debarry, Annapia & Opanga, Valentine
