COVID-19 Pandemic and Vegetable Wholesale Markets in Egypt

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to assess the short-run effects of COVID-19 restrictions on the main wholesale market for fresh produce in Egypt. The difference-in-differences analysis is carried out for the daily wholesale prices and quantities of three main vegetables; namely tomatoes, potatoes and onions. The analysis shows that the supplied quantities of the three vegetables were not significantly affected by the pandemic restrictions. Seemingly, the lockdown did not have any significant effect on the transportation capacity of vegetables from the farm to the wholesale market. And the farming activities were not seriously affected by coronavirus in Egypt. Farming business continued as usual and there was no interruption of the supply of labor and other inputs. However, the wholesale prices of tomatoes and potatoes have decreased significantly by 15.9 % and 17.2 % respectively because of the COVID-19 lockdown. These drops in prices are a reflection of the lost consumer demand because of the coronavirus pandemic. The wholesale price of onions was not significantly affected by the pandemic probably because of its perceived benefits to the immune system by ordinary consumers in times of viral infections. Keywords: COVID-19, difference-in-differences regression, fresh vegetables, wholesale markets, consumer demand.