Italian farms during the COVID-19 pandemic: main problems and future perspectives. A direct analysis through the italian FADN

Abstract

The spread of the COVID-19 virus in Italy during the first phasis of the pandemic (February-May 2020) has caused a large-scale crisis, with an almost immediate decrease of industrial production and a consequent contraction in domestic consumption and external trade. However, the issue of food security was immediately recognized as one of the most sensitive, so that the Government has decreed the priority role of the food system, which has been included among those considered fundamental services and economically essential, allowing the related activities to be carried out during the lockdown. Agricultural production activities transformation, and commercialization remained fully operative during the lockdown; nevertheless, the sector has faced many difficulties related to the contraction of some of the marketing channels (restaurants, on farm sales, agritourism, problems with the logistics and many other ones). To better understand the effects of the initial phasis of the pandemic on the Italian agricultural sector and provide useful information to the government and decision makers, a survey was carried out with a CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing) sent to over 10,000 farmers belonging to the sample of the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). The number of respondents has been of 733 farms, which represents around 7% of the Italian FADN sample. The results of the questionnaire have been matched with FADN data on the structure and the economic performance of farms, allowing a more precise evaluation of the condition and effects of the pandemic. The results highlight a relevant effect of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency on the agricultural sector: 37% of the interviewed farmers declared a significant liquidity crisis, while 60% predicted a contraction in turnover. These effects are more relevant for the wine, olives, and horticulture types of farming and more frequent in medium/large farms. A better situation has been found for farms which usually outsource processing and/or marketing/sale of the products.

Exploring New Opportunities for Agritourism in the Post-COVID-19 Era

“…[4] evaluated the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Tanzania through a microsimulation with a social accounting matrix and found that poverty increased, and inequality decreased. Concerning agritourism, evaluations of the impact of COVID-19 on agritourism were conducted from the supply and demand sides [5][6][7][8][9][10]. Ref.…”

“…Ref. [8] investigated Italian Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data and observed that 37% of farms had a significant liquidity crisis, and 60% of them had decreases in revenue. On the demand side, [9] studied Polish agritourism farms in 2021 and noted that well-educated and well-off city residents were the main customers of agritourism and that the relatively low risk of COVID-19 infection was an important reason for choosing agritourism.…”

The impact of COVID-19 on household income and participation in the agri-food value chain: Evidence from Ethiopia

“…This result is in contrast to findings from other studies conducted in different contexts. Cesaro et al (2022), for example, found that medium-large farms in Italy expressed greater concern about the negative consequences of COVID-19 in the short term than small farms. Having a land ownership title or holding the right to use it played an important role in cushioning the negative COVID-19 impact.…”

“…2 Indeed, it was initially expected that farming experienced less direct effects, except where hired labor was important, although interlinkages with the other segments of the chain may have caused income losses and production disruption (Swinnen, 2020). 3 For instance, Cesaro et al (2022) found that financial liquidity and repairment of equipment and machinery were the difficulties most reported by farmers in Italy in the short run.…”