The impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns on livelihood assets and income inequality in rural West Sumatra

COVID-19 movement restrictions disrupted rural livelihoods worldwide, yet evidence on poverty-differentiated impacts remains limited. This study aims to quantify changes in income and the five Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) capitals before versus during lockdown, identify which capitals condition household coping, and assess the moderating role of social networks. We used a cross-sectional, convergent-parallel mixed-methods design: a survey of 508 farming households in five West Sumatra districts (July–September 2020) and semi-structured interviews, analysed under the SLF. Within-household changes were tested with paired t and McNemar’s χ²; poor versus non-poor differences with Welch t and Pearson’s χ²; interview data were thematically coded. Results show widening inequalities across capitals. Poor households experienced larger proportional setbacks in cash income, reduced access to agricultural inputs, and more barriers to children’s distance learning, while better-off households modestly expanded cultivated area. Coping portfolios diverged: poorer households primarily cut consumption, whereas better-off households drew on savings, credit, and asset-based strategies. At the same time, bonding social capital intensified, with neighbourhood mutual aid mitigating shortages, especially among poorer households. Many farmers substituted toward locally sourced, lower-input practices, indicating a grassroots shift with environmental co-benefits but potential yield trade-offs without extension support. Lockdowns thus deepened pre-existing asset gaps even as social networks buffered acute deprivation. Policy should protect land tenure during crises, pair cash transfers with crop-timed e-vouchers delivered via village service points, and expand rural broadband and extension to scale low-input innovations without sacrificing yields.