USING SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD APPROACH TO ANALYZE THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN RURAL AGRICULTURAL MARKETS

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has disrupted the operation of many economic activities around the world. Informal economic activities including rural agricultural markets were mostly affected by the impact of COVID-19 as those in the rural areas they lost access to urban markets. This study researched the impact of COVID-19 on the South African rural agricultural markets, using the Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) as a primary theory. The study relied on secondary data which was collected by a case study and analyzed using
a textual analysis. The key findings revealed that rural agricultural markets have been recognized as the main contributing informal activity to the South African economy. It showed that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted these economic activities as the government introduced strict lockdown regulations to maintain social distancing and avoid the spread of the pandemic. The South African government must, therefore, implement a regulatory framework that will formalize the operation of informal traders in rural agricultural markets.

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