COVID-19 and livelihoods in rural Guatemala: Lessons from a long term assessment and the path to recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on livelihoods and food security across rural populations worldwide. This study offers a long-term assessment of the impacts of the pandemic and the path to recovery among smallholder agricultural households in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. We rel...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Berrospi, Maria Lucia, Ceballos, Francisco, Hernandez, Manuel A., Paz, Cynthia
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140323
_version_ 1855539911776534528
author Berrospi, Maria Lucia
Ceballos, Francisco
Hernandez, Manuel A.
Paz, Cynthia
author_browse Berrospi, Maria Lucia
Ceballos, Francisco
Hernandez, Manuel A.
Paz, Cynthia
author_facet Berrospi, Maria Lucia
Ceballos, Francisco
Hernandez, Manuel A.
Paz, Cynthia
author_sort Berrospi, Maria Lucia
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on livelihoods and food security across rural populations worldwide. This study offers a long-term assessment of the impacts of the pandemic and the path to recovery among smallholder agricultural households in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. We rely on a unique longitudinal survey of 1,262 households collected over four survey rounds between 2019 and 2022. The results show substantial recoveries in incomes, food security, and dietary diversity in the region by mid-2022 compared to 2020, but at levels still worse than pre pandemic ones. There is also a sustained increase in the intention to emigrate. The households that were initially more affected in terms of food security and nutrition but recovered faster include those located in one (San Marcos) of the three departments and families living above the poverty line, while smallholders affected by the ETA and IOTA tropical storms, non-coffee producers, and indigenous populations have taken longer to recover. In addition, we provide quantitative estimates for a subsample of households interviewed during a fifth survey round at the end of 2022, showing an average decline of about 16 percent in total household income three years after the start of the pandemic, mainly driven by a decrease in agricultural income, combined with a 26 percent increase in expenditures and an important surge in indebtedness. Overall, the study offers valuable lessons regarding the recovery of vulnerable households following a major global crisis and in a context of additional shocks, remarking the importance of continue monitoring the situation of vulnerable households, especially those exposed to recurrent (weather) shocks that also have a more exhausted portfolio of coping mechanisms & express a higher willingness to emigrate.
format Artículo preliminar
id CGSpace140323
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher International Food Policy Research Institute
publisherStr International Food Policy Research Institute
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1403232025-12-02T21:03:13Z COVID-19 and livelihoods in rural Guatemala: Lessons from a long term assessment and the path to recovery Berrospi, Maria Lucia Ceballos, Francisco Hernandez, Manuel A. Paz, Cynthia expenditure rural population long-term experiments coronavirus covid-19 households recuperation agriculture coronavirinae food security migration coronavirus disease shocks debt dietary diversity The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on livelihoods and food security across rural populations worldwide. This study offers a long-term assessment of the impacts of the pandemic and the path to recovery among smallholder agricultural households in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. We rely on a unique longitudinal survey of 1,262 households collected over four survey rounds between 2019 and 2022. The results show substantial recoveries in incomes, food security, and dietary diversity in the region by mid-2022 compared to 2020, but at levels still worse than pre pandemic ones. There is also a sustained increase in the intention to emigrate. The households that were initially more affected in terms of food security and nutrition but recovered faster include those located in one (San Marcos) of the three departments and families living above the poverty line, while smallholders affected by the ETA and IOTA tropical storms, non-coffee producers, and indigenous populations have taken longer to recover. In addition, we provide quantitative estimates for a subsample of households interviewed during a fifth survey round at the end of 2022, showing an average decline of about 16 percent in total household income three years after the start of the pandemic, mainly driven by a decrease in agricultural income, combined with a 26 percent increase in expenditures and an important surge in indebtedness. Overall, the study offers valuable lessons regarding the recovery of vulnerable households following a major global crisis and in a context of additional shocks, remarking the importance of continue monitoring the situation of vulnerable households, especially those exposed to recurrent (weather) shocks that also have a more exhausted portfolio of coping mechanisms & express a higher willingness to emigrate. 2023-12-20 2024-03-14T12:09:19Z 2024-03-14T12:09:19Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140323 en https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896294226 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.135058 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.135934 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Berrospi, Maria Lucia; Ceballos, Francisco; Hernandez, Manuel A.; and Paz, Cynthia. 2023. COVID-19 and livelihoods in rural Guatemala: Lessons from a long term assessment and the path to recovery. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2219. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137039.
spellingShingle expenditure
rural population
long-term experiments
coronavirus
covid-19
households
recuperation
agriculture
coronavirinae
food security
migration
coronavirus disease
shocks
debt
dietary diversity
Berrospi, Maria Lucia
Ceballos, Francisco
Hernandez, Manuel A.
Paz, Cynthia
COVID-19 and livelihoods in rural Guatemala: Lessons from a long term assessment and the path to recovery
title COVID-19 and livelihoods in rural Guatemala: Lessons from a long term assessment and the path to recovery
title_full COVID-19 and livelihoods in rural Guatemala: Lessons from a long term assessment and the path to recovery
title_fullStr COVID-19 and livelihoods in rural Guatemala: Lessons from a long term assessment and the path to recovery
title_full_unstemmed COVID-19 and livelihoods in rural Guatemala: Lessons from a long term assessment and the path to recovery
title_short COVID-19 and livelihoods in rural Guatemala: Lessons from a long term assessment and the path to recovery
title_sort covid 19 and livelihoods in rural guatemala lessons from a long term assessment and the path to recovery
topic expenditure
rural population
long-term experiments
coronavirus
covid-19
households
recuperation
agriculture
coronavirinae
food security
migration
coronavirus disease
shocks
debt
dietary diversity
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140323
work_keys_str_mv AT berrospimarialucia covid19andlivelihoodsinruralguatemalalessonsfromalongtermassessmentandthepathtorecovery
AT ceballosfrancisco covid19andlivelihoodsinruralguatemalalessonsfromalongtermassessmentandthepathtorecovery
AT hernandezmanuela covid19andlivelihoodsinruralguatemalalessonsfromalongtermassessmentandthepathtorecovery
AT pazcynthia covid19andlivelihoodsinruralguatemalalessonsfromalongtermassessmentandthepathtorecovery