Coronavirus puts the food chain under tension

Text by: Ariane Gaffuri Follow

Transport, labor, supply problems ... The Covid-19 pandemic is disrupting the food industry. Some products cannot be found today, others have experienced soaring prices. All the players in the sector are trying to adapt in France and abroad. 

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France is not experiencing the food crisis. The country is the leading agricultural producer in Europe. The food industry is its primary industry, with 430,000 people in 18,000 companies.

However, since March 17 and the beginning of the containment against Covid-19 , flour, oil, eggs, pasta, sugar, and many other basic necessities are sometimes out of stock in stores. food . This is actually due to a sudden change in eating behavior. Restaurants, canteens are closed. Suddenly, consumers buy for food and store for fear of running out.

“  It is not necessarily the product that is affected, but all the other elements of the supply chain, from the production of the product to the final consumer. This can be packaging, transport, packaging, arrival at the various distribution centers because some centers are closed. So it's the logistical aspect that is problematic, more than agricultural production,  ”explains Anne-Sophie Alsif, economist at the Bureau of Information and Economic Forecasting. "  But it is certain that for the sector you will have a considerable shortfall because you have a significant loss of demand for everything that is exported, and indeed, there are no more restaurants or others.  "

► Read also : Coronavirus: French farmers request immediate reinforcement for their crops

All agricultural sectors in France do not encounter the same difficulties . The market for vegetables, like today's asparagus, which requires labor, is tight . “  The workforce is more difficult to find and many producers complain about this situation and especially about the lack of consumption, because it is a seasonal product well valued in the restaurant industry. However, the restaurants are closed,  "specifies Gautier le Molgat, deputy managing director of Agritel, a consultancy specializing in price risk management in the agricultural and agrifood sector.

The dairy sector in tension

"  Another sector will suffer a lot while it is in the midst of a recovery in production, it is the dairy sector  ", continues Gautier le Molgat. And this at the time when the cows return to graze on the pastures and produce a lot of milk . “  However, the price of butter, milk powder, cream is collapsing because there is a demand problem. Even if consumers cook more, it does not absorb the same volumes as the food industry  ”.

Stéphane Minjeau knows something about it. He is a dairy farmer in the Grand Est region. “  All the dairies asked us to reduce our milk production by 10% in April and May, under penalty of penalties. Cheese, in particular, is no longer sold. In addition, their employees have requested their right of withdrawal. They no longer have a workforce and all export products are currently closed. So we are trying to lower production, but it is not obvious : a cow is a living being, it is not a tap that is opened and closed, so those that can go to the slaughterhouse are going there faster than expected. Another consequence is that it will clog the meat market and it will be the breeders of meat breed who will suffer. It is not known how long this situation will last. We are in total blur  , ”laments Stéphane Minjeau.

A performing wheat market

Across Europe, the dairy sector is overproducing with plummeting sales and falling prices. With regard to cereals - mainly wheat, the staple food in a large part of the world -, France, the leading European producer, has nothing to worry about. The crops are good and it can continue to export to Algeria, Morocco and Egypt its main markets.

There are tensions there, however, because some countries are being cautious, due to the coronavirus crisis and the fear of climate hazards. "  In the same way that households rushed into supermarkets to take pasta, flour, some importing states increased their precautionary stocks even while some states restricted their exports,  " explains Philippe Chalmin, economist and specialist in agricultural issues.

“  It only affected two products: wheat and rice. On the rice side, it is India and Vietnam, which have limited their exports, because, with the confinements, the logistics did not follow, he continues . For wheat, these are Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. In reality these fears are unfounded, since we have harvests all over the world excellent, even record.  "

► Read also : Italy will establish a " green corridor " with Romania to rescue its agriculture

Risk of food shortage in Africa

However, warns the World Bank - like other international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Organization Health (WHO) - the pandemic could cause a food crisis in vulnerable countries in Africa. They import $ 35 million worth of food annually. Agricultural production could drop 2.6% in 2020, a crisis that would add to the recession, the first in 25 years.

“  These are already countries where there is a situation of chronic food insecurity. They depend on imports, so it is absolutely essential that the importing and exporting countries maintain international trade in foodstuffs,  ”warns Florence Tartanac, specialist in nutrition and food systems at the FAO.

There are also local logistical difficulties. "  We have been told that in Nigeria, for example, the small mills used to process grain for livestock are closed, " she explains . So the producers can no longer process the cereals, and the cattle no longer have food to feed themselves  ”.

Another logistical problem: the sometimes chaotic transportation of imported food arriving by sea or air. “  In many African countries, small business is informal, so traders take public transport, or informal transport. And if these population movements that allow them to have income are interrupted, there will be supply problems. So we can see that certain key steps are necessary for the rest of the chain to work,  ”adds Florence Tartanac.

It is therefore important that "  donor countries maintain their emergency aid  " to Africa, even if they are weakened by their own coronavirus crisis, she concluded.

► Also listen : Coronavirus : the head of the AfDB fears a “ social crisis ” in Africa

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• Agriculture and Fisheries
• Coronavirus
• France
• Africa
• European Union
• Trade and distribution
• Food

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