How are coffee farmers affected by COVID-19?
Laterite is working with the international development nonprofit TechnoServe to understand the impact of COVID-19 on over 1,900 coffee farming households in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Using phone surveys, we are interviewing selected coffee farming households that are part of Nespresso’s AAA Academy and TechnoServe’s Coffee Farm College programs every 3-4 weeks over a period of seven months. Our new Coffee Farmer COVID-19 Dashboard collates this data and makes it possible to understand how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting coffee farming households as it deepens. This data will be used by TechnoServe and stakeholders in the coffee industry to tailor training and support responses.
About the Coffee Farmer COVID-19 Dashboard
Our new dashboard provides an overview of the latest data on coffee farming households across the four countries. It’s a way to see regular updates on how coffee farmers are affected by the crisis, and understand how the key issues they face are changing over time.
This dashboard explores how coffee farmers are affected across eight thematic areas: coronavirus knowledge; coronavirus concerns; coffee farming; income; coping strategies; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); food availability; and food acquisition. The dashboard will be regularly updated with the latest data to show the changing trends – so watch this space for the most up-to-date insights.
First findings at a glance
Insights from the first rounds of data collection, completed in June and July 2020, are provided below.
1. Knowledge of common coronavirus symptoms and preventative measures is high across all countries
2. Households in Kenya report income loss from diverse income sources, most notably salaried work, during the pandemic
3. Transport restrictions cause challenges for some coffee farmers, particularly in Ethiopia. At the same time, most coffee farmers in Ethiopia feel positive about their future financial well-being
4. A large number of coffee farmers in Zimbabwe report difficulties selling crops
5. Most coffee farmers in Uganda report losing income from coffee farming as a result of the crisis, but hunger is low
Want to dig deeper into the data?
Check out the Coffee Farmer COVID-19 Dashboard, and read the latest infographics. Finally, don’t forget to stay tuned for more insights from future survey rounds in the coming weeks.
The phone surveys are carried out by Laterite in partnership with TechnoServe, Nespresso, JDE and other partners. The dashboard is Laterite’s self-funded contribution to the project to ensure that insights are available to the public.