Table 3 COVID-19 impacts on smallholder farmer capacity to sell crops in Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa
Interview questions | Farmer response (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Tonga | Fiji | Samoa | |
Has COVID-19 impacted on farmers’ ability to sell crops? | |||
 No | 37.3 | 13.3 | 44.5 |
 Yes | 9.9 | 86.0a | 52.5 |
 Not sure/no response | 52.8 | 0 | 4.0 |
How has COVID-19 impacted on farmers’ ability to sell crops b | |||
 Less consumer demand | 0 | 52.7 | 18.8 |
 Fewer market vendors | 18.3 | 31.3 | 7.9 |
 Vendors are buying less product from farmers | 16.9 | 46.7 | 16.8 |
 Markets or shops I sell to have been closed | 3 | 15.3 | 13.8 |
 More difficult to access transport to get crops to market | 3 | 8.7 | 14.9 |
 Transport costs have increased | 3 | 7.3 | 0 |
 I need to retain more crops for home and village use | 0 | 4.7 | 0 |
 There is more competition | 0 | 0 | 22.8 |
 More market vendors | 9.2 | 4.7 | 17.8 |
 Vendors are buying more product from farmers | 4.2 | 6.7 | 16.8 |
 Vendors are now selling different type of crops to what I grow | 8.5 | 10.0 | 23.8 |
Has crop loss or waste on-farm increased during COVID-19? | |||
 Yes | 27.5 | 72.7 | 33.7 |
 No | 32.4 | 26.0 | 63.4 |
 Not sure/no response | 40.1 | 1.3 | 2 |