Impact of COVID-19 on the food supply chain

Abstract A pandemic is not a new event encountered in the history of humanity because mankind has faced various pandemics in history. The common point of pandemics is their serious negative effects on the global economy. Considering the food supply chain, one of the most important sectors of the economy, it has been seen that COVID-19 has an impact on the whole process from the field to the consumer. In the light of recent challenges in food supply chain, there is now considerable concern about food production, processing, distribution, and demand. COVID-19 resulted in the movement restrictions of workers, changes in demand of consumers, closure of food production facilities, restricted food trade policies, and financial pressures in food supply chain. Therefore, governments should facilitate the movement of workers and agri-food products. In addition, small farmers or vulnerable people should be supported financially. Facilities should change the working conditions and maintain the health and safety of employees by altering safety measures. Food protectionist policies should be avoided to prevent an increase in food prices. In conclusion, each country must realize the severity of the situation and sometimes should tighten or loosen the measures according to the spread of the pandemic. The supply chain also should be flexible enough to respond to the challenges in the food supply chain. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the agriculture and food sector and to summarize the recommendations required to reduce and control the effect of the pandemic.