April 2020, Pacific

SWAG’s Tapu Tuailemafua says impacts of COVID 19 is going to be drastic should the crisis extend IMAGE : Ms Sunshine Farms

Border closures, movement restrictions, and disruptions in the shipping and the aviation industries have made it harder to continue food production and transport goods.
It threatens to cut off supply chains completely and increase food insecurity.
“We’re having issues with our distribution channels which has also seen reduced sales,” Tapu Tuailemafua of the Samoa Women’s Association of Growers (SWAG) said in the Pacific Farmers Have Their Say survey recently conducted by the Pacific Island Farmers Organisation Network.
“If the pandemic crisis extends, the effects are going to be drastic.”
“We have already a shortage of farm employees, it’s affecting our communication networks and for older farmers it’s hard to leave home because they’re at a higher risk of getting infected.”
The combined measures put in place by governments in response to COVID 19 may potentially cause more harm than the virus itself.