The COVID-19 pandemic is brutally hitting many countries in the world. Immense consequences on food, health, and livelihoods are dreaded. The agricultural sector is a crucial part of the developing economy and provides livelihood to a large section of the people. Therefore, the disruption in agriculture and food systems will have significant impacts. This paper performs an inclusive assessment of the effect of COVID-19 on agriculture and food systems in the major part of the countries. A detailed discussion on reports, scientific publications, press releases, and organizational statements are reviewed. This review addresses and highlights COVID- 19 direct impacts in the food systems, market access for agricultural commodities, food and nutritional security, labour availability and migration, farm systems restore, inputs and outputs integration, the importance of IT in agriculture and lesson learning from these effects. In addition, this paper suggests coping and mitigation mechanisms that could be useful to improve and sustain livelihoods. Furthermore, this collective review is helpful to investigators, Government organizations, agricultural departments, and policymakers to expedite an effective response against the Covid-19 pandemic. Keywords: Agriculture, Livelihoods, Food system, Covid-19 *:Corresponding authors: suren.tnau@gmail.com bozkan@akdeniz.edu.tr

Agricultural research institutes in Sub-Sahara Africa have focused on establishing farmer groups that facilitate the commercial production and marketing of African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs) to address food and nutritional security. With the freedom of selecting the choices of market outlets, we explored the factors such as farmers’ characteristics, farm attributes, selling preferences, social relations, and other primary reasons that influence farmers' decision to choose a particular outlet to sell AIVs. A purposive random survey was conducted among the AIV farmers to understand the preferred market outlets for AIVs in Zambia. The results of the multinomial logit model indicate that male respondents are more likely to choose intermediary options to sell AIVs, particularly brokers and wholesalers. The rainfed farmers and those who receive primary income from farming activities are less likely to choose retailers and wholesalers to market their AIVs. Similarly, those who expect instant payment for their produce indicate that they are less likely to prefer retailers and brokers. Farmers who belong to the farmer's group exhibited a positive coefficient, meaning that they are more likely to choose intermediary options to sell their AIVs compared with the farmer-to-consumer direct sales option. However, good price, a positive momentum of AIVs price in the past, and processing activities were found to be insignificant determinants for market outlet choices when compared with farmer-to-consumer direct outlet option. Our findings could help to better cognize AIVs marketing channels and develop the intervention for new farmers to make an informed decision as to how best to market their AIVs.

This paper has examined the impact of climate variability on crop yields and variance thereof in different agro-climatic zones of Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The results indicate that yields of paddy, maize, cotton and sugarcane benefit from the increase in temperature, while yield of banana benefits from the variation in temperature. The precipitation has a positive effect on the yield of cotton but a negative effect on the yield of maize. The yields of most crops, however,are negatively associated with precipitation intensity (ratio of highest monthly precipitation to annual precipitation). If temperature increases, the variance in paddy yield also increases. Likewise, excess rainfall increases variability in the yields of paddy and sugarcane. With climate change by 2030 the maize yield is expected to decrease by 1.4 per cent in the North-Western zone, 1.5 per cent in the Cauvery Delta zone and 2.7 per cent in the Southern zone. Cotton is likely to suffer more with about 13 per cent decline in yield in the North-Eastern zone, 8.1 per cent in the North-Western zone and 2.1 per cent in the Western zone. Sugarcane yield is likely to decline in Cauvery delta (3.8%) and Southern zone (4.7%) of the state. The study has suggested that appropriate weather-based crop insurance policy should be developed to reduce financial loss to the farmers.

The population demographics of the eastern U.S has changed in recent years with an increase in immigrants, particularly of Asian and Hispanic origins. This trend motivated the identification of foods preferred by these ethnic communities in 16 states in the region and Washington, D.C., focusing on greens and herbs. Over 100 ethnic greens and herbs were identified as being preferred food choices, from which 40 were selected for further study, representing 10 crops important to four ethnicities: Asian Indian, Chinese, Mexican, and Puerto Rico. Bulletin board focus group and telephone survey participants responded to questions regarding their consumption in 2010. The relevant information was collected to assess retail sales for each crop for each of the four ethnic groups. Results demonstrated that the ethnic crop demand in the eastern U.S is significant, and the prospects for future growth are promising as the population of ethnic consumers in the region is projected to continue to grow.

Although Türkiye is among the leading producers of cherries worldwide, its export performance does not fully reflect its production potential. This gap points to the importance of understanding how trade incentives, destination-market demand, and trade costs shape export outcomes in high-value horticultural products. This study investigates the determinants of Türkiye’s fresh cherry exports during 2015–2023 by combining a gravity trade model with machine learning approaches. The empirical framework incorporates export support mechanisms, macroeconomic indicators of partner countries, import demand, and geographical distance between Türkiye and its trading partners. It was found out that trade incentives have a positive effect on cherry exports; showing support mechanisms can strengthen Türkiye’s competitiveness in international markets. The findings also reveal that rising import demand in destination countries stimulates exports, while geographical distance and adverse changes in importer income conditions limit export performance. These results suggest that maintaining export incentives alone may not be sufficient; rather, support policies should be adjusted according to market-specific demand conditions, income dynamics, and trade-cost factors. By integrating policy variables with destination-market characteristics, this study provides empirical evidence for designing more effective export support strategies for Türkiye’s cherry sector.