The role of staple crop production during the Covid-19 outbreak. Evidence for women small producers in Senegal

The Covid-19 outbreak has negatively affected the agri-food system especially in developing countries where most people rely on agriculture. Using primary data, we study the role of staple crop production as a coping strategy during the Covid-19 outbreak. Using a linear probability model, this article assesses the effect of income and food security deterioration perceived as a consequence of Covid-19 on rice investment propensity among 1320 women rice producers in Casamance, Senegal. Our results show that food security deterioration and especially income reduction due to Covid-19 are significantly and positively related to rice investment propensity. The presence of food retailers and the type of household livelihood, farm or nonfarm, dramatically drive the Covid-19 perception effects on rice investment propensity. While women small producers in villages with food retailers slightly increase their propensity to invest in rice, in remote villages lacking food retailers rice production represents an effective coping strategy for those women living in households that depend to a large extent on the market, i.e. those relying on nonfarm income. These results are supported by the strong correlation between limited physical access to the market, due to movement restrictions, and rice investment propensity, especially among households relying on nonfarm income.