- Published by
- Mercy Corps
The biggest and longest lasting global impacts from COVID-19 will likely be economic, with vulnerable groups including farmers, workers, entrepreneurs and households facing the greatest setbacks.
This report highlights initial economic and food security impacts of local policy responses around the world. It signals potential negative impacts or consequences of those responses, including:
- urban consumers and workers are at the forefront of impacted groups
- prices for staples are increasing in many locations
- businesses with greater connections are better able to adapt
- hot spots for economic vulnerability and food insecurity are likely to be in locations that are both dependent on trade and highly informal
- lower income countries - which tend to rely more heavily on informal economies - are experiencing greater food price increases
- microenterprises and informal workers - often disproportionately youth, women and displaced groups - are losing income
Information comes from 22 Mercy Corps country programs across the Middle East, Asia, collected between 23rd- 30th April, 2020 by in-country field staff via phone, WhatsApp and email interviews and supplemented by secondary research.