COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc in Bangladesh. Like in many other countries, it has become one of the biggest threats to Bangladesh’s economy and food security. Bangladeshi rice farmers are facing the major brunt due to COVID-19 induced lockdown. The pandemic has had a tremendous impact on farmers of Bangladesh, particularly in scheduling sowing/planting, harvesting, procurement, transportation and marketing. Lack of laborers for these operations has been reported from across the country, particularly in places where manual harvesting is predominant.

The shortage of labor has been disrupting the production and processing of food, notably for labor-intensive crops. This disruption adds to the already existing vulnerability of the farmers, especially small-scale marginal farmers. There are concerns that measures to curtail the health crisis might affect the 2020 harvest with seasonal workers being unable to travel for the spring sowing and harvest seasons. For instance, 2020 Boro rice harvest of north-eastern Haor (wetland ecosystem) and low lying areas of Bangladesh have been significantly impacted due to the induced lockdown, despite the relaxations offered by the government in traveling of seasonal labors. Thus, there are few laborers available with increased farm wages to help during the harvest.