COVID-19 impacts and adaptation in aquatic food supply chains in Egypt - One year into the pandemic

Abstract

In 2020, we conducted a bi-weekly phone survey with 75 fish supply chain actors in Egypt covering the period February to November, to assess impacts of COVID-19 on the availability and price of aquatic foods and production inputs (Middleton et al 2021). In June 2021, we conducted a follow-up survey during which we re-surveyed 50 participants (i.e. 25 less than in 2020) regarding their business activities between the months of March and May 2021 using recall interviews by phone. Attrition between the two survey rounds was due to inability to recontact respondents from the first round or respondents declining the second interview. The sample was comprised of the following: feed mills (4), feed sellers (7), fish hatcheries (10), fish farmers (10), traders (7), and retailers (12). COVID-19 cases in Egypt peaked in June 2020, then again in January and May 2021 (Dong et al 2020). The first government-mandated lockdown and travel ban began in March 2020. The 2020 data covered the first three months of the pandemic’s impact on Egypt, whereas the second round of data collection allowed for a comparison one year into the pandemic.