UNIDO ITPO Germany presents study on the impact of COVID-19 on agribusiness and the food industry in African and Asian markets

While the COVID-19 pandemic has immediate effects on food and agricultural supply chains, the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is not limited to short-term disruptions in supply and demand.  Considering that the sector accounts for ten percent of global GDP and employs an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide, the outbreak of COVID-19 will likely have far-reaching and noticeable social and economic consequences.

In order to evaluate those effects, the UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) Germany, in cooperation with the German Agricultural Society (DLG e.V.), and SmartHectar Innovation, initiated an online survey among 800 companies from the European and especially German food and agricultural sector with business activities in African and Southeast Asian markets. 

The survey revealed that, while the immediate effects on business operations in African and Southeast Asian markets are still limited, they are more pronounced in Europe in the form of reduced production and cancelled orders. Despite the looming crisis, the long-term outlook of most companies remains rather positive, with only about ten percent of respondents pondering layoffs or closing down part of their business in foreign markets.

A majority of SMEs see the opening of new markets and continued international expansion as the right way to adapt to the crisis. The respondents are convinced that trade liberalization has to be accompanied by active measures aimed at strengthening local supply chains and facilitating industrial upgrading of agricultural and food-processing industries.

The results of the survey validate the approach of ITPO Germany and its partners in respect of their continued efforts to support technology providers and investors in the food-processing and agricultural sectors in developing countries and emerging markets, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Press release is available here.

Read the survey report here.

For more information contact ITPO Germany (itpo.germany [at] unido.org (itpo[dot]germany[at]unido[dot]org))