COVID-19 impact on poultry production and distribution networks in Bangladesh

Sattar, Abdullah Al, Mahmud, Rashed, Mohsin, Md Abu Shoieb, Chisty, Nurun Nahar, Uddin, Md Helal, Irin, Nusrat, Barnett, Tony ORCID: 0000-0001-9399-9607, Fournie, Guillaume, Houghton, Eve and Hoque, Md Ahasanul (2021) COVID-19 impact on poultry production and distribution networks in Bangladesh. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 5. ISSN 2571-581X

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected numerous economic sectors across the world, including livestock production. This study investigates how the pandemic has impacted the poultry production and distribution network (PDN), analyses stakeholders' changing circumstances, and provides recommendations for rapid and long-term resilience. This is based on a literature review, social media monitoring, and key informant interviews (n = 36) from across the poultry sector in Bangladesh. These included key informants from breeder farms and hatcheries, pharmaceutical suppliers, feed companies, dealers, farmers, middlemen, and vendors. We show that the poultry sector was damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, partly as a result of the lockdown and also by rumors that poultry and their products could transmit the disease. This research shows that hardly any stakeholder escaped hardship. Disrupted production and transportation, declining consumer demand and volatile markets brought huge financial difficulties, even leading to the permanent closure of many farms. We show that the extent of the damage experienced during the first months of COVID-19 was a consequence of how interconnected stakeholders and businesses are across the poultry sector. For example, a shift in consumer demand in live bird markets has ripple effects that impact the price of goods and puts pressure on traders, middlemen, farmers, and input suppliers alike. We show how this interconnectedness across all levels of the poultry industry in Bangladesh makes it fragile and that this fragility is not a consequence of COVID-19 but has been revealed by it. This warrants long-term consideration beyond the immediate concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-f...
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	Social Policy
Subjects:	S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
Date Deposited:	22 Sep 2021 10:36
Last Modified:	16 Nov 2024 05:36
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/111968

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