Page 85 - Regional_rice_report_with_full_bookmarks

PROJECT “NETWORK FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
THINK-TAKS FOR COUNTRIES IN MEKONG-SUB REGION” (NARDT)

COVID-19 impacts on all sectors in Viet Nam, including the rice sector, disrupted
many stages in the rice value chain, namely: the input supply was interrupted due
to social distancing, the activities of traders were also limited, farmers were facing
difficulties in finding output. Domestic trade, as well as export, is difficult due to the
decline in orders due to fear of pandemics, lack of human resources in processing
and milling factories due to the implementation of disease prevention and control
procedures. Due to the sharp decrease in the number of small traders, the role of
the cooperative is significantly increased when it plays the role of finding output for
farmers, linking farmers with large enterprises. COVID-19 pandemic has negatively
impacted rice trade and the connection of exchanges in the chain, reducing the
economic efficiency of the whole chain, but it also contributes to promoting linkages
among farmers, cooperatives, and enterprises, contributing to the increasing
concentration and specialization of rice export processing and trading agents.

COVID-19 largely impact on the ability of exporting rice in Thailand. The
disruption from COVID-19 to Thai rice export logistics was from global supply chain
disruption. Imbalance in world containers caused lacking containers to export and
increased Sea Freight were the major effects. High Sea Freight let to higher imported
fertilizer cost for plantation. Shipping lines delayed calling some ports in Thailand.
Traders delayed the order and waited for lower freight reflecting excess stock in the
warehouse. Not only increased cost for carrying stock but also no space for new crop
that linked to supply chain disruption.

The pandemic continues to be unpredictable, so the food supply chains
between countries may continue to be disrupted. According to research by Ancog
(2020), the most significant impact is the cost for storing rice will continue to be
increasing, leading to price for export rice to rise in the future. Meanwhile, GDP will
be dropping as the result of disrupt in the chain, expected in 2020, the region GDP
will fall by 1.4%, equivalent to USD 3.76 billion . Food security will continue to worsen
32
in the future, not only as food supply chain will be disrupted, but the access for food
by many households due to lockdowns and interruption in good flows will raise many
problems. According to FAO (2021), the food supply chain will affect the accessibility
and the price for food, in which many low-income households will soon be unable to
access to food supply in the future. However, it is believed that the food security chain
could be strengthen, to maintain progress toward Zero Hunger in the future .
33
4.2.6. Improving of transportation system
South-East Asia region (also known as Indochina area), is currently under the
development plan of Belt and Road Initiative from China, which would see a landline
trade route between China and Lao becomes the major route for the region. This
would transform the future of Laos as a land-linked economy, becoming the central
for agricultural export in the South-East Asia region by railway.

32 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341785359_Assessing_the_Impact_of_the_COVID-19_Pandemic_on_
Agricultural_Production_in_Southeast_Asia_Toward_Transformative_Change_in_Agricultural_Food_Systems_As-
sessing_the_Impact_of_the_COVID-19_Pandemic_on_Ag
33 https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb2913en

84