Effects of COVID-19 on the Italian agri-food supply and value chains

The spread of COVID-19 has not only led to many deaths but also to social and economic downturn globally. The study represents an exhaustive compilation of relevant macroeconomic data regarding the status of the agri-food sector from a demand side perspective and an overview of the food product producer and consumer prices after the shock. Its main purpose is to assess the resilience level of the agri-food sector to the coronavirus pandemic, analyzing its effect on commodity prices and focusing on the supply and value chain. The results highlight that fresh and perishable products, whose production or harvest took place during the first wave of COVID-19, have suffered price level effects, while storable products have not registered significant impacts. This phenomenon is mainly due to the vulnerability of the harvest and production phases, which affected fresh and perishable products supply, and to the resilience of transports and logistics, which instead ensured the supply of storable products to the final consumer. Especially in case of future pandemic waves, the implications and information deriving from the present analysis could support researchers, policy makers and managers, serving as an assessment tool to build suitable strategies for the whole agri-food supply chain and thus ensure sector resilience during these unprecedented times.