Using Sustainable Livelihood Approach to Analyze the Impact of Covid-19 on the South African Rural Agricultural Markets

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the operation of many economic activities around the world. Informal economic activities including rural agricultural markets were mostly affected by the impact of COVID-19 as those in the rural areas they lost access to urban markets. This study researched the impact of COVID-19 on the South African rural agricultural markets, using the Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) as a primary theory.The study relied on secondary data which was collected by a case study and analyzed using a textual analysis. The key findings revealed that rural agricultural markets have been recognized as the main contributing informal activity to the South African economy. It showed that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted these economic activities as the government introduced strict lockdown regulations to maintain social distancing and avoid the spread of the pandemic. The South African government must, therefore, implement a regulatory framework that will formalize the operation of informal traders in rural agricultural markets.