Tanjina Afrin et al., Livelihood Challenges and Coping Strategies of Agricultural Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic (2022)

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An article by Tanjina Afrin, Fariha Nowshin and Md. Ismail Hossain of universities in Dhaka and Gazipur in the International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research, Vol-6, Issue-2, 2022, pages 1086 to 1093, on the livelihood challenges and coping strategies of agricultural workers in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic. The qualitative study used convenience sampling to reach 60 temporary and casual agricultural workers, with descriptive statistics and a 4-point Likert-type scale for livelihood challenges. It reports that most respondents ran small businesses but got no help or small loans from NGOs, drove rickshaws or autos on off days, and saw their children take up earning activities when schools closed. The introduction cites the International Labor Organization's warning that 50 percent of the global workforce could lose jobs.

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International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)
Peer Reviewed – International Journal
Vol-6, Issue-2, 2022 (IJEBAR)
E-ISSN: 2614-1280 P-ISSN 2622-4771
https://jurnal.stie-aas.ac.id/index.php/IJEBAR

LIVELIHOOD CHALLENGES AND COPING STRATEGIES OF
AGRICULTURAL WORKERS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Tanjina Afrin1), Fariha Nowshin2), Md. Ismail Hossain3)
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka -1207, Bangladesh1)
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur-1706, Bangladesh2)
Jagannath University, Dhaka-1100, Bangladesh3)
E-mail: tanjina4599@gmail.com1, nowshinbsmrau@gmail.com 2, ismailhridoy13@gmail.com 3

Abstract: Bangladesh is one of the high-risk countries of the COVID-19 pandemic and
its consequent losses. The main objectives of this research were to find out the
livelihood challenges and coping strategies of agricultural workers during
pandemic situation. This study was conducted targeting lower income group of
people (temporary agricultural worker, casual agricultural workers). As the
nature of the research was qualitative, the researcher used convenience
sampling to select respondents because this is the most common non-
probability sampling strategy where respondents were selected in an ad hoc
fashion based on their accessibility. However, the researcher has taken 60
respondents as sample in analyzing data, descriptive statistics (frequency and
percentage) of responses are estimated. Scores of livelihood challenges are the
means of a 4-point Likert-type scale used. From this study find that most of the
respondents did small business but they did not get any help or small loan
from NGO. Most of the respondents drive rickshaw, auto as their off day. Due
to closing of school, respondents’ children engage themselves to earning
activities.

Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic, coping strategies, Livelihood challenges, Agricultural
workers

1. Introduction
Due to job loss and other shocks to income and weakened livelihoods, the impact of the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is growing every day on the poor. Casual day
workers, small-scale producers, and others who have less access to social security due to a
lack of savings or limited alternative means of income, both in urban and rural settings, are
among the most vulnerable members of society. As a direct result of the economic crisis, tens
of thousands of people are losing their jobs and slipping into the trap of approaching poverty.
According to the International Labor Organization, 50 percent of the global workforce may
lose their jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with 1.6 billion employees in the
informal economy at risk.
In most developing countries and some affluent ones, the majority of waged agricultural
laborers are hired on a seasonal, casual, or temporary basis. Casual workers are individuals
who are hired and paid at the end of each day or on a project basis. Those working for a
specified but short length of time are referred to as temporary workers. The majority of
seasonal, casual, and temporary workers do not receive any type of social security or
unemployment benefits, paid vacations, or sick or maternity leave. Hasnin examined a study

International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)Page 1086
International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)
Peer Reviewed – International Journal
Vol-6, Issue-2, 2022 (IJEBAR)
E-ISSN: 2614-1280 P-ISSN 2622-4771
https://jurnal.stie-aas.ac.id/index.php/IJEBAR

on the influence of the coronavirus on the livelihoods of Bangladesh's rural and low-income
population (Hasnin, 2020). Only 7.69 percent of daily agricultural employees possess more
than 400 decimals of cultivable land, according to his research. A half of rural household
members mainly rely on non-farming jobs, of which about 35 percent of people whose
main jobs are waged employment and 15 percent of them are self-employed. Among
the population whose main employment in agricultural production, 4 5 percent of them
have part-time non-farming jobs. Many rural residents migrate and work in the city
without resident restriction. Most of them moving to urban areas only do simple jobs
such as, motorbike taxi, riders, porters, helpers etc., without stability, labor contracts,
insurance, nor secured accommodations. Only 19.5 percent of the rural workers
working as hired labor are employed in the formal sector.
The aim of the study to identify livelihood challenges of agricultural workers during
COVID-19 and coping strategies of agricultural workers. Most of the study do not mention
about coping strategies during pandemic situation. So, there was a gap which needed to be
addressed. The findings of this study might be helpful to know the actual situation of
agricultural workers during the pandemic.

2. Review of Literature
Although most of the literature primarily focuses COVID-19 impact on most vulnerable
people (agricultural laborer, small-scale producers, daily wage earners) income, livelihood,
health condition etc. Mottaleb et al., (2020) depicted a study on COVID-19 induced
economic loss and ensuring food security for vulnerable groups: Policy implications from
Bangladesh. He observed in his study found that, in Bangladesh, out of a 60.8 million
employed labor force, 24.7 million (40.6 percent) are directly engaged in farm sector, of
which 44.4 percent are paid on daily basis, and 36.1 million are engaged in nonfarm sector, of
which 18.5 are paid on daily basis.
Chowdhury, (2020) conducted a study on Livelihoods, Coping and Support
During COVID-19 Crisis. The poor in North Bangladesh are the worst victims of COVID-
19 fallout. He found that shows that 53 percent of the families are maintaining their living
standards by borrowing money from multiple sources such as relatives, neighbors and
microfinance agencies. Some of them are also taking money as advance wages from potential
future employers, which in turn will cause them to lose income during the peak employment
time. Some 37 percent of the families interviewed were forced to sell whatever small assets
they had left in the family in order to buy food.
Kissam, (2020) conducted a study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
California farmworkers: Better local data collection and reporting will improve strategic
response. He showed that the impact of COVID-19 on the vulnerable population of
farmworkers, is not fully captured by analyzing race/ethnic disparities. Bochtis (2020)
demonstrated that 50% of the agricultural workforce and 54% of the workers annual income
are at moderate to high risk.
Paul et al. (2021) found that limited economic opportunities, restricted movement, less scope
of meeting relatives, friends, neighbors from whom they used to seek help in emergencies,
fear of being infected by COVID-19, and lack of confirmed support from the government –all
had made lower income people’s life vulnerable and stressful.
If the COVID-19 situation lasts much longer, a large number of low-income people
living above the poverty line will fall below it, and many moderate poor households will drop
lower down the poverty line. The overarching successes of Bangladesh in relation to poverty

International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)Page 1087
International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)
Peer Reviewed – International Journal
Vol-6, Issue-2, 2022 (IJEBAR)
E-ISSN: 2614-1280 P-ISSN 2622-4771
https://jurnal.stie-aas.ac.id/index.php/IJEBAR

reduction will disappear as a result of this stagnancy in economic activities. The government
has taken different initiatives to support the vulnerable people, such as food support, open
market sale of rice at a lower price, and cash support for the extreme poor.

3. Methods and Materials
3.1 Study population
This study was conducted Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University
(BSMRAU), Gazipur targeting lower income group of people (temporary agricultural worker,
casual agricultural workers). Because these fractions of people usually have limited access to
the internet, the researcher conduct physical interviews maintaining at least 3m distance. In
this study primary data were collected from both temporary and casual agricultural workers
of the BSMRAU area through a structured questionnaire. Primary data were being collected
from 10 June to 22 June.

3.2 Study setting
The researcher has to decide to conduct the study based on data collected from primary data
sources. The researcher has decided to consider the reliance of data. Data has been collected
from primary data through a questionnaire. This study has been conducted with structured
questionnaire. The study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches for the primary
data collection. The questionnaire divided into three parts a) socioeconomic condition of the
respondents b) livelihood challenges of the respondents c) coping strategies during covid-19
situation.

3.3 Participants and sampling
As the nature of the research is qualitative, so the researcher has used convenience sampling
to select respondents because this is the most common non-probability sampling strategy
where respondents are selected in an ad hoc fashion based on their accessibility. However,
the researcher has taken 60 respondents as sample. On an average, each interview took about
15 minutes. The interview held at different places near the university area. The researcher
strongly believed that the collected information can provide the best information to achieve
the objectives, Likert scale has been used to measure the data collected the questionnaire. The
researcher approached respondents randomly and those who (18 years and over) agreed were
interviewed. And briefly described the aims of the research to the selected respondents and
their verbal consent is noted.

3.4 Analysis
In analyzing data, descriptive Statistics (frequency and percentage) of responses were
estimated. Scores of livelihood challenges are the means of a four-point Likert-type scale
used. The arranged data have been formed or grouped together in tables. Pie chart also used
for displayed some analysis results.

4. Results
4.1 Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents
Table 1 illustrated percentage distribution of sociodemographic characteristics of the sampled
respondents. The highest proportion of the respondents (62 percent) belonged to the young
age group (up to 35 years), closely followed by the middle age (30 percent) group (35–50
years) old age group. Among sixty respondents, 72 percent were male and 28 percent were

International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)Page 1088
International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)
Peer Reviewed – International Journal
Vol-6, Issue-2, 2022 (IJEBAR)
E-ISSN: 2614-1280 P-ISSN 2622-4771
https://jurnal.stie-aas.ac.id/index.php/IJEBAR

female. The majority of the respondents (50 percent) can sign only, while the least number of
respondents illiterate (17 percent). Table 1 shows that the proportion of variables was higher
among the respondents who had small family size (less than 5 members), followed by
medium (5-8 members) and large (>8 members) family size. The findings also indicated that
about three-fourth (77%) of the respondents had small-sized family (<5 members), whereas
18 percent and 5 percent of the respondents had medium (5-8 members) and large size (> 8
members) families respectively.

Table 1. Percentage distribution of the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents
Variables Frequency Percentage
Age (in years)
Young aged (<35) 37 62
Middle aged (35-50) 18 30
Older aged (>50) 5 8
Gender
Male 43 72
Female 17 28
Education
No schooling 10 17
Sign only 30 50
Primary 13 22
Secondary+ 7 12
Family size
<5 members 46 77
5-8 members 11 18
>8 members 3 5

4.2 Livelihood Challenges
The frequency distribution of respondent livelihood challenges was illustrated in Table 2.
Table 2 shows that 90 percent of the respondent’s livelihood is affected by COVID-19
outbreak. To 64 percent of respondents, the level of livelihood impact is high to extreme.
Most of the respondent’s family member worked outside but due to lockdown they lost their
job. This actually has negative impact on their family income. Results from Table 2, it can be
said that 57 percent of the respondents confess during COVID-19 their income decrease. This
study shows that 76.7 percent of the respondents go out another district for cutting paddy
during harvesting season. But during COVID-19 due to lockdown they cannot go another
district. This really hamper their extra earning. During COVID-19, 51.4 percent respondents
face loss in their small business.

Table 2. Percentage distribution of livelihood challenges of the respondents
Variables Frequency Percentage
Affected livelihood by COVID-19
Yes 54 90
No 6 10
Affected level
Little 14 23
Moderate 9 15
High 16 27

International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)Page 1089
International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)
Peer Reviewed – International Journal
Vol-6, Issue-2, 2022 (IJEBAR)
E-ISSN: 2614-1280 P-ISSN 2622-4771
https://jurnal.stie-aas.ac.id/index.php/IJEBAR

Extreme 21 35
Family wage earner
By self 15 25
Others 45 75
Impact level on income during lockdown
Little 12 20
Moderate 14 23
High 34 57
Seasonal laborer
Yes 46 77
No 14 38
Faced problem on seasonal laboring during lockdown
Yes 54 90
No 4 7
Loss of business during COVID-19
Yes 31 52
No 20 33

4.3 Coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic
Figure 1 displayed the coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic which includes “use of
savings”, “sale of assets”, “Loans from relatives”, “Reduce consumption”, “More family
member working”, and “child labor”.
This study found that 58 percent respondents use savings for running their family during
lockdown (Figure 1(A)). They also said that they use their savings in two to three months.
Majority (63 percent) of the respondents sell their productive assets for buying food (Figure
1(B)). A respondent said he sold his hen for buying food because there is no another option
during this time and had no money for buying food. It is impossible for the respondents to run
the family the whole month in limited income. For this they take loan from their friends or
relatives. Majority (82 percent) of the respondents said they took loan from relatives (Figure
1(C)). Due to increase price of all food, they reduce their consumption level. Majority (82
percent) of the respondents said they reduce their consumption from before (Figure 1(D)).
For better earning more family members working outside. Most of the respondent’s family
member engage agriculture related activities. Around (67 percent) of the respondents said
their family member work outside for better earning (Figure 1(E)). During pandemic child
labor increasing because due to closing school most of the children engaged many working
activities. This study shows that 75 percent child engage child labor (Figure 1(F)).

(A) Use of Savings (B) Sell of assests

Yes Yes
42% 37%
No No

63%
58%

International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)Page 1090
International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)
Peer Reviewed – International Journal
Vol-6, Issue-2, 2022 (IJEBAR)
E-ISSN: 2614-1280 P-ISSN 2622-4771
https://jurnal.stie-aas.ac.id/index.php/IJEBAR

18% Yes 18% Yes
No No

82% 82%

(E) More family member working (F) Child Labour

33% 25% Yes
Yes

No No

67% 75%

Figure 1. Coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic

5. Discussions
There was a negative impact on the Bangladesh’s economy during the COVID-19 pandemic
(Hossain, 2021). So, it is important to identify livelihood challenges of agricultural workers
during COVID-19 and coping strategies of agricultural workers which was the main purpose
in this study.
Majority of the respondents reported that due to COVID-19 lockdown it was hard for
them to maintain their family expenses. This study find that COVID-19 badly affect the
livelihood of majority of the respondents. The effects of COVID-19 pandemic don't seem to
be solely restricted to health however even have a serious impact on the social and economic
aspects (Bhuiyan et al., 2020). The results of another research suggest that COVID-19
severely affected human livelihoods in both urban and rural areas (Paul et al., 2020).
Most of the participants in this study were seasonal laborer, and they faced problems
during the pandemic situation. Some were lost their job, or some were loss in their business.
A recent study conducted in Bangladesh found that a large part of the labor force had to find
their jobs and had to struggle to control their finances during COVID-19 (Paul et al., 2020).
In order to support socioeconomic situation, government provide many stimulus
packages but majority of the respondents report that they do not get any help from
government or organization. From this study find that most of the respondents do small
business but they do not get any help or small loan from NGO. However, they have tried their
best to deal with various economic problems on their own. Most of the respondents drive
rickshaw, auto as their off day. Due to closing school respondents’ children engage earning
activities. Limited economic opportunities, restricted movement, less scope of meeting
activities, friends and neighbors from whom they used to seek help in emergencies, fear of
being infected by COVID-19 and lack of confirmed support from the government all had
made agricultural workers life vulnerable and stressful.

International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)Page 1091
International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR)
Peer Reviewed – International Journal
Vol-6, Issue-2, 2022 (IJEBAR)
E-ISSN: 2614-1280 P-ISSN 2622-4771
https://jurnal.stie-aas.ac.id/index.php/IJEBAR

6. Conclusions
The challenges of livelihood mean fear of getting infected by coronavirus, insufficient
government assistance etc. Most seasonal, casual or temporary workers do not receive any
form of social security or unemployment benefit, holidays with pay, or sickness or maternity
leave. Indeed, many full-time waged agricultural earners lack these same benefits. An
increasing number of women workers are employed as casual or temporary workers.
Furthermore, jobs are often classed as casual or temporary even if there is in reality
continuous employment.
This study found that due to pandemic most of the agricultural workers livelihood badly
affected and income decreased. The majority of the respondents expressed concern that
COVID-19 would make it more difficult to get enough food on a regular basis for their
household. The markets where they purchase food will either be closed or significantly
disrupted. The market where they sell their produce/livestock will be either closed or
significantly disrupted. In response to this variability, agricultural workers use different
strategies, including use of savings, sell productive assets, loans from relatives, loans from
moneylenders, more family member working outside, child labor.
The government has taken different initiatives to support the agricultural workers, such
as food support, open market sale of rice at a lower price, and cash support and also medical
support. Government NGOs should provide collateral free loan for their small-scale business.

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Peer Reviewed – International Journal
Vol-6, Issue-2, 2022 (IJEBAR)
E-ISSN: 2614-1280 P-ISSN 2622-4771
https://jurnal.stie-aas.ac.id/index.php/IJEBAR

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