నైరూప్య

COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts Public Health and Food Security of Animal Industry.

R M Al-Atiyat, MJ Tabbaa

This study aimed to highlight the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the worldwide animal industry with special attention to public health and food security of animal industry. Two E-surveys were designed and conducted. The first E-survey was prepared to measure the impact of COVID-19 on the animal industry by getting the responses of randomly selected 140 farmers. The second was prepared to measure the impact of COVID-19 on the policy level by getting responses from animal industry experts who preselected based on their national and international records in the field. The surveys were executed during the period from 15/4/2020 to 15/6/2020 and the data were subjected to different statistical analyses considering the demographic characteristics of both farmers and experts. The results showed those farmers' demographic characteristics influenced the response towards COVID-19 impacts on the industry. The farmers of the age class of 35-45 years who lived in the South region of Jordan and raising their animals under the intensive production system had more awareness and knowledge about COVID-19, and the best management and hygienic practices required. Other farmers who had limited knowledge and minimum awareness reported a more negative impact on their businesses. On the other hand, the experts' demographic characteristics did not show any relation with their responses towards COVID-19 impacts on the industry. The farmers of various demographic characteristics were facing financial risks ranged from debt to bankruptcy. The experts stated that the world and Jordan are able to mitigate the COVID-19 devastating socioeconomic impacts considering timely, targeted and prioritized policies and strategies. A recommendation was suggested for applying digital technologies in anticipating problems and mitigating temporary shortages, in addition to building food chain resilience to avoid similar situations in the future at global and country levels.