Socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the dairy value chain in western Nepal

Research Project Location: Nepal
Timeframe: 2024 - 2025
Funding: USAID

Introduction

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected people involved in the dairy value chain in Nepal? By understanding socioeconomic effects and how this sector adapted or not, we can help this sector recover and prepare for future challenges.

Project Goal & Objectives

The project's overarching goal is to assess the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dairy value chain in Nepal. Specific objectives are to:

Understand differences across districts and farm categories
Determine appropriate interventions to cope with the adverse impacts of the pandemic
Empower youth, women, and others involved in the dairy value chain

Background

In Nepal, dairy livestock are important for supporting household nutrition and prosperity. Yet responses to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic are not well documented. Little is known about access to feed, fodder, veterinary services, and market information. Moreover, individual farmers, dairy co-operatives, regional milk-collectors and chilling centers, large dairy entrepreneurs, dairy input suppliers, and end consumers are adapting to these current highly volatile conditions.

How have these changes impacted the health and socioeconomic condition of children, local youth, women, and marginalized groups? Also, information on differential effects of the pandemic on the dairy farmers in the mid-hills and terai and on locally based small-holder dairy farmers (shorter value chain) and larger-scale commercial dairy farmers (longer value chain) are lacking.

Approach

We will conduct a detailed value chain analysis of the dairy sector and assess the impacts of COVID-19 on each node of the value chain. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected for the study. The study will mainly be based on primary data collected from the study sites through surveys.

Dairy Nepal

Figure: Graphical representation of formal and informal/local dairy value chains in Nepal.

Principal Investigator (PI) and lead institution

Gerrit Hoogenboom, University of Florida

Co-PI and collaborator institutions

Ujjal Tiwari, Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU), Nepal
Praseed Thapa, AFU, Nepal
Subhash Chandra Chaudhary, FORWARD, Nepal
Albert De Vries, University of Florida
Vijaya Raj Joshi, University of Florida

Resources

Project poster

Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems is part of Feed the Future

This work was funded in whole or part by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Resilience, Environment and Food Security under Agreement # AID-OAA-L-15-00003 as part of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems. Additional funding was received from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation OPP#060115. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed here are those of the authors alone.