How closing pubs in Europe and grounding airlines started a nut crisis in West Africa
- From Africa to the US, a global nut crisis is spreading as demand for snacks from bars, airlines, weddings and other social events plummets in the wake of Covid-19
- Long term, the trend towards healthier diets and rising affluence should ensure demand remains robust
With a few digitally driven exceptions, the Covid-19 pandemic is clearly an ill wind that blows no one any good. Whatever country you turn to, whatever community you visit, the harm seems pervasive and often cruelly interlinked.
It feels a bit like Edward Lorenz’s “butterfly effect” but, in this instance, the absence of a beer-drinker’s bar snack in Peckham, South London, has wrought an economic typhoon through West Africa.
The same crisis is being played out across the nut-producing world, whether it is almond growers in California, walnut farmers in China or pistachio producers in Iran. Take the family-run nut company GNS from Arlington in Texas, which has been left with thousands of tonnes of nuts on its hands after its two main customers – two leading US airlines – cancelled orders.
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Chinese farmers see livelihoods threatened by coronavirus pandemic and related economic slump
Nut prices have fallen worldwide as the Covid-19 pandemic shut down our social lives. According to commodity data company Mintec, US almond prices have fallen by 40 per cent this year, with walnuts down 18 per cent.