COVID-19 and its socioeconomic impact on the Ecuadorian dairy sector

Abstract

This research work examines how socioeconomic factors influence dairy sector variables in Ecuador. The main objective is to analyze these factors and their impact on the dairy sector at the national, Sierra regional and Tungurahua province levels. The study uses a quantitative approach of longitudinal design, with a descriptive, correlational scope. For processing and analysis, we used official agricultural data extracted from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAGAP), the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) and the National Finance Corporation (CFN). These data allowed the construction of different statistical models, such as time series, diagrams and linear regression models to identify how the Covid-19 periods (before, during and after) affected raw milk prices at the national level and by means of polynomial regression models to observe how socioeconomic factors affected dairy sector variables in the province of Tungurahua, such as milk production in liters through three-dimensional figures. The results show that both Covid-19 and socioeconomic factors are related to national producer prices, and that there are correlations between sector variables at the regional and provincial levels.