We conducted a COVID-19 health and safety farmer survey in April 2020 via an online survey tool. The purpose of the survey was to gain insights that would enable us to develop a strong, evidence-based COVID-19 strategy that minimises risks along the supply chain from farmer to consumer.

65 small-scale farmers (average of 56 years) were surveyed. Nearly half (45%) of the farmers were over 60 years old, putting them in an “at risk” age group for COVID-19 complications. The average number of dependents per household was 4 and 26% of dependents were also older than 60 years old. Many farmers are primary breadwinners within their households.

We asked the farmers to report if they or their dependants had any health conditions which might predispose them to complications of the COVID-19 virus; the results were astonishingly high: 46% reported personal existing health condition/s and 32% reported dependant/s with existing health condition/s.

Farmers were assessed on their level of knowledge and awareness about COVID-19.

• 100% of farmers had heard of COVID-19
• 42% understood modes of transmission of COVID-19 being through: contact with infected persons, contact with infected surfaces and touching your face after contact with persons and/or surfaces
• 77% understood that incubation of COVID-19 can be between 2-14 days
• 49% correctly identified the three most common symptoms of COVID-19: Shortness of breath, fever, coughing
• On average, farmers correctly identified covering mouth when sneezing or coughing, staying at home, washing hands, using gloves, and using face masks as primary prevention methods

Taking into account the age and health conditions of the farmer and their household dependants, as well as whether the farmer reported being a smoker (12%), we generated risk levels across the household. 75% of farmers were either at high risk themselves and/or had dependants at high risk. More than one-third (36%) perceived themselves as being ‘medium risk’ or ‘high risk’, while 26% scored themselves as ‘low risk’ and 28% said they were unsure.

Despite actual and perceived risks across the farmer network, 97% of farmers want to continue farming during lockdown. More than half (54%) of farmers cited income as the primary reason they wanted to continue farming during the lockdown period. Other key reasons included wanting to support their communities’ food security (26%), to feed their own families (26%), to support healthy living (22%) and to prevent loss of crops (17%).

On average, farmers reported having access to two markets where they could sell their vegetables, of which 70% are members of the Umthunzi Farming Network. The median monthly farmer income according to Umthunzi’s March sales is R1728, which is an approximate 3.5-fold increase in median income since Umthunzi began in March 2018. The majority of farmers (83%) reported that they felt safe getting to and from their farms. Average travel time was 10 minutes to farms as well as collection points

Farmers have very few alternative income options to rely on, with the majority (57%) being dependent on social grants, approximately 10% citing other sources and 17% citing no alternatives to farming.

These data indicate that the majority of small-scale farmers and their families are at high-risk of COVID-19 disease due to age, pre-existing health conditions and smoking status. However, given the inherently challenging life circumstances of low-income farmers living in the townships and in-depth discussions with the farmers about their needs and desires, we feel that safe access to market and reliable income opportunities are more critical now than ever before in preventing the spread and devastation of COVID-19 and its longer-term negative social, economic and health impacts. With these data, we have developed an evidence-based strategy to minimise COVID-19 risks across the supply chain from farmer to consumer.