The University of St Andrews has been awarded a grant of nearly £300,000 to help protect the livelihoods of fishing communities in Peru hit by Covid-19.
Peru is one of the world’s worst Covid-19 impacted countries, with problems containing the disease said to be particularly acute in the fishing and seafood supply sector where there are limited economic alternatives.
The new research will help address the urgent need to understand the impacts of Covid-19 on fishing dependent communities and to develop strategies to boost the seafood supply chain whilst minimising further Covid-19 infections.
The funding of £297,163 has been awarded from the UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) through the UK Government’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and the Newton Fund.
The 18-month project will create a survey platform which will support an Inter-Agency Consortium (IAC) led by Regional Government in the Piura region of Peru.
Online survey instruments will be developed and 12 community monitors will be trained to use them remotely to collect data from 12 key fishing communities.
The data collected will include health and welfare, fisheries-related production and market information together with other local socio-economic indicators.
A St Andrews University spokesperson said the research will be crucial in supporting thousands of jobs in the seafood supply chain currently being affected by the pandemic.
