The Sunday News
Mhlupheki Dube
WE have just gone almost a week under a lockdown as a necessary mitigation measure against the spread of the deadly Coronavirus.
This week’s article tries to unpack the impact of the lockdown on the agriculture value chains in general so that readers can visualise the level of impact of the lockdown in this important productive sector. The aim being not to discount the importance of the lockdown but to advocate for compliance from some truant members of the society so that we can bring the spread of the virus under control and cut the losses in the agriculture value chain and other economic sectors.
The agriculture sector was rightfully classified under the essential services sector during this lockdown which means the sector is allowed to continue operating albeit observing the other necessary precautions. This is because the nation still has to be fed even under a lockdown and some high value agriculture produce are at the critical harvesting and marketing stage.
A case in point being the tobacco sector. There are also some sectors which produce perishable commodities daily such as the horticulture and the dairy sector. A farmer with ripe tomatoes still has to take them to the market every week because the ripening will not stop even under important times such as the lockdown.
Dairy cows will need to be milked and milk delivered to the processors daily as always. However, it is important to note that every value chain is as functional as all its various parts. This means that if the other part is not functioning properly for one reason or the other, all the other sectors of the value chain will feel the pinch.
Take for example if the market is not functioning because the nation is under lockdown and consumers cannot go to the market to buy the produce, it means the produce will just go bad and the farmer and the retailer will incur losses. In short, if consumers are not able to go and buy because there is a very necessary lockdown, the whole value chain will be in trouble.
This therefore brings to the fore the need for citizens to comply with the lockdown measures so that we contain the spread of the virus in the shortest possible time and go back to our normal lives and cut the losses which are being incurred by the agriculture sector and other production sectors.
It therefore makes for sad reading when we read about several hundreds of people having been arrested for deliberately violating the national lockdown. It means there is a very high likelihood that they have been spreading the virus with their unchecked movements.
Therefore, instead of containing the disease in the given 21 days, we may find ourselves having to extend the lockdown period simply because of truant citizens. Violating the national lockdown because you find it painful to stay in your own home is akin to a malaria patient who spits out the chloroquine tablet because it has a very bitter taste. Swallowing it is the only way you will get healed so man it up!
I therefore appeal to citizens to comply with the lockdown regulations so that we can flatten the curve of spread of the virus in our nation and hence return to our normal lives. This will help in minimizing the losses that are already being encountered by the agriculture sector and perhaps help them recover before they tip over.
Imagine a tomato farmer who has to throw away tonnes of ripe tomatoes because a majority of consumers are under a lock down hence not able to buy. It maybe hard for such a farmer to recover from the loss more so if the lockdown period is extended because some people could not comply. We therefore call upon the enforcement authorities to ensure that the nation complies.
Uyabonga umntakaMaKhumalo.
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