Assessing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Agricultural Production in Southeast Asia: Toward Transformative Change in Agricultural Food Systems

How will the COVID-19 pandemic affect the agriculture sector in Southeast Asia? Clearly, any disruptions in the agricultural food systems would create supply and demand shocks that would impact on the agriculture sector's immediate and long-term economic performance and food security contribution. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic during the first quarter of year 2020 is estimated to result in 3.11 percent or 17.03 million tons reduction in aggregate volume of agricultural production in Southeast Asia due to decline in agricultural farm labor affecting 100.77 million individuals. This crisis could translate to 1.4 percent decrease in GDP of the Southeast Asian region, which is equivalent to USD 3.76 billion. Ensuring a systemic transformation of the agricultural systems into resilient, sustainable, productive, and inclusive food systems would be crucial for the future of Southeast Asia.