Enhancing the ability of agriculture to cope with major crises or disasters: What the experience of COVID-19 teaches us

The COVID-19 outbreak was an unprecedented situation that uncovered forgotten interconnections and interdependencies between agriculture, society, and economy, whereas it also brought to the fore the vulnerability of agrifood production to external disturbances. Building upon the ongoing experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, in this short communication, the authors discuss three potential mechanisms that can mitigate the impacts of major crises or disasters in agriculture: resilience-promoting policies, community marketing schemes, and smart farming technology. They argue that resilience-promoting policies should focus on the development of crisis management plans and enhance farmers' capacity to cope with external disturbances. They also stress the need to promote community marketing conduits that ensure an income floor for farmers while in parallel facilitating consumer access to agrifood products when mainstream distribution channels under-serve them. Finally, they discuss some issues that need to be solved to ensure that smart technology and big data can help farmers overcome external shocks.