Explain the impact of COVID 19 on food security in India

Covid 19 was a global catastrophe which upended the lives of billions around the world and
India was exception to it. It exacerbated the hunger and poverty situation and left the most
vulnerable and needy in most precarious position then ever before. The India government
rolled out special programme to address food insecurity named PM Garib Kalyan Yojana.
Though it takes care of hunger but nutritional aspect has not been covered in it. The COVID-
19 pandemic is threatening the long-cherished food security of India. It has impacted all four
aspects, namely 'availability, access, stability, and utilization of food
The whole nation saw long serpentine lines of people fleeing from urban metropolises to their
native villages after lockdown was announced. Their primary concern which made them take
such a tumultuous trip was hunger as in the absence of income, no avenue was left to feed
themselves. COVID-19 has proven to be not only a health crisis, but also a livelihood crisis –
quickly turning into a hunger and malnutrition catastrophe. The pandemic has led to increase
in global food insecurity, affecting vulnerable households in almost every country. It has
exacerbated existing inequalities, pushing millions of people into the vicious cycles of
economic stagnation, loss of livelihood and worsening food insecurity.
The World Bank estimates that 71 million people will be pushed into extreme poverty across
the globe as a result of the pandemic. The World Food Programme estimates that an
additional 130 million people could fall into the category of “food insecure” over and above
the 820 million who were classified as such by the 2019 State of Food Insecurity in the
World Report. The CMIE Unemployment Data reveals a grim picture, with rural
unemployment spiralling to 14.34% and urban unemployment reaching 14.71% as of 16 May
2021. In a country where a majority of the workforce is in informal sector, people have been
massively affected due to loss of jobs and the lack of access to the benefits (including social
security) that come with formal employment. The daily wagers, construction workers, street
vendors and domestic helpers have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and
lockdowns and are living a life of uncertainty and disrupted incomes. Agriculture is the
primary occupation in the villages, but due to frequent lockdowns, there has been a disruption
of supply chains and access to market for the sale of agricultural produce, impacting the
income of rural households. And while there is no gender-disaggregated data on the impact of
COVID-19 specifically on women, experience shows women are disproportionately affected
during pandemics, economic downturns and times of food insecurity.
n the 2020 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 94th out of 107 countries. The pandemic and
resulting unemployment has made India’s hunger crisis worse. The First Phase of the
National Family Health Survey (2019-2020) has revealed alarming findings, with as many as
16 states showing an increase in underweight and severely wasted children of under the age
of 5. The pandemic is becoming a nutrition crisis, due to overburdened healthcare systems,
disrupted food patterns and income loss, along with the disruption of programmes like the
Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and the mid-day meal.
COVD-19 has exacerbated hunger and poverty worldwide, especially in India.
The crisis highlights the importance of putting relief directly into the hands of vulnerable
people.
Solutions must address both immediate food insecurity and provide livelihood opportunities
so as to break the cycle of hunger and poverty. COVID-19 has proven to be not only a health
crisis, but also a livelihood crisis – quickly turning into a hunger and malnutrition
catastrophe. The pandemic has led to increase in global food insecurity, affecting vulnerable
households in almost every country. It has exacerbated existing inequalities, pushing millions
of people into the vicious cycles of economic stagnation, loss of livelihood and worsening
food insecurity.

Global hunger fell for decades, but it's rising againThe World Bank estimates that 71 million
people will be pushed into extreme poverty across the globe as a result of the pandemic. The
World Food Programme estimates that an additional 130 million people could fall into the
category of “food insecure” over and above the 820 million who were classified as such by
the 2019 State of Food Insecurity in the World Report. Pandemic’s fallout will mean more
undernourished people for years to come. As the deadly second wave ravaged India,
individual states have imposed lockdowns and strict restrictions to curb the spread of the
virus. During the first phase, the plight and misery of the migrant workers and other
vulnerable communities was laid bare. But this time, the health crisis has overwhelmed the
existing livelihood and hunger crisis which still looms large in most of our towns and
villages.

The CMIE Unemployment Data reveals a grim picture, with rural unemployment spiralling to
14.34% and urban unemployment reaching 14.71% as of 16 May 2021. In a country where a
majority of the workforce is in informal sector, people have been massively affected due to
loss of jobs and the lack of access to the benefits (including social security) that come with
formal employment. The daily wagers, construction workers, street vendors and domestic
helpers have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and lockdowns and are living
a life of uncertainty and disrupted incomes. Agriculture is the primary occupation in the
villages, but due to frequent lockdowns, there has been a disruption of supply chains and
access to market for the sale of agricultural produce, impacting the income of rural
households. And while there is no gender-disaggregated data on the impact of COVID-19
specifically on women, experience shows women are disproportionately affected during
pandemics, economic downturns and times of food insecurity.

In the 2020 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 94th out of 107 countries. The pandemic and
resulting unemployment has made India’s hunger crisis worse. The First Phase of the
National Family Health Survey (2019-2020) has revealed alarming findings, with as many as
16 states showing an increase in underweight and severely wasted children of under the age
of 5. The pandemic is becoming a nutrition crisis, due to overburdened healthcare systems,
disrupted food patterns and income loss, along with the disruption of programmes like the
Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and the mid-day meal.
The crisis highlights the importance of the existing welfare schemes like Mahatma Gandhi
Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Public Distribution System (PDS) and
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), which put cash and relief directly into the
hands of the most vulnerable people to help them ride out the economic distress. It is
imperative to improve food security by increasing local food production and strengthening
food supply chains. The availability of high food stocks presents an opportunity for universal
PDS, which is much needed. As many young people who were the breadwinners of their
families have succumbed to the virus during the second wave, it is of utmost importance that
support is provided to these families with adequate cash, food support and employment
opportunities to prevent them from slipping further below the poverty line.

Since the onset of the pandemic, a plethora of civil society organisations have risen to the
occasion to provide humanitarian relief. In metropolitan cities it’s the daily wagers, migrant
workers and slum dwellers who faced the wrath of covid-19 the most when livelihood and
incomes had stalled completely. The acute shortage of income because of the lockdown
hampered their ability to purchase essential rations and sanitation kits, it is important to start
rebuilding the lives of these families, especially those who have lost their earning members.
Hence, purchasing food relief material from the Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in order to
increase their sources of income and provide the same material as aid to the marginalised in
the community itself is a great way of helping the most vulnerable. The solution to the hunger
crisis should follow a two-pronged approach of addressing food insecurity as well as
providing livelihood opportunities to the people whose voices have largely been left unheard
in this second wave.
For a durable Food security in INDIA, the requirements of these four pillars mentioned at the
beginning should be fully met. The pandemic has however had perilous implications for food
security, particularly of the poor and most vulnerable. This was demonstrated in more than
one way by the singular phenomena of the fragile living of over 100 million migrant workers,
who had to walk miles and miles but empty stomachs. Even the national managers of the
pandemic could not foresee such a situation.

The availability of food grains does not seem to have been adversely impacted so far. The
country had sufficient buffers of food grains: 58.4 million tons and pulses 3 million tons.
Disruption in supply chains and a decline in demand had caused a huge loss of production
and income to the farmers, traders, and consumers. As against other sectors of the economy,
agriculture has surely shown more resilience. The country's farmers have successfully
harvested and provided nation with much needed reprieve from mass starvation but supply of
inputs due to lockdown was a cause of worry. Timely supplies of seeds and other inputs holds
the key to great harvest. When we focus on relief measures, there is certain signs of great step
taken by government of INDIA. Foodgrain rations under the public distribution system (PDS)
were more or less doubled from April to November 2020; employment generation under the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) expanded by
nearly 50% compared to the previous year; and some cash transfers were also made, for
example, to old-age pensioners and women’s Jan Dhan Yojana (JDY)1 accounts. Some state
governments supplemented this national package with relief measures of their own. For most
households, however, these transfers were just a fraction of what they had lost due to the
lockdown and ensuing economic crisis.
Numerous Surveys by civil society and other reputed organisation has laid bare the depth of
crisis. For instance, ActionAid reported that 35% of nearly 10,000 informal workers (mainly
migrants) were eating less than two meals a day in May 2020. Similarly, a survey of
approximately 20,000 returning migrant workers in Bihar found that close to 60% were
unable to ensure two square meals a day for all members of the family in June 2020, with a
similar proportion in July. In September-October 2020, two-thirds of the respondents in the
Right to Food Campaign’s “Hunger Watch” survey (adults from India’s poorest households)
said that they were eating less nutritious food at that time than before the lockdown – a
chilling thought.
Even though State support played a critical role in sustaining poor people during and after the
national lockdown. The PDS, in particular, reached a vast majority of the population, as
prescribed under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), vast number of vulnerable citizens
were left out. Here is clear evidence that the national lockdown of April-May 2020 was
associated with a devastating food crisis. Large numbers of people struggled to feed their
families, and food intake dipped in both qualitative and quantitative terms for a majority of
the population. There was a particularly sharp decline in the consumption of nutritious food
including non-vegetarian items.

There was some recovery from June 2020 onwards, when the lockdown was gradually
relaxed, but hardship persisted well beyond that. Employment, income, and nutrition levels
were still much below pre-lockdown levels even at the end of the year.

Relief measures helped, but they were patchy, and their effective reach is uncertain. A large
majority of the population had access to the PDS in 2020 (with enhanced monthly rations for
eight months), and this played a critical role in averting the worst. But it is possible that some
of the supplementary rations got diverted, initially at least, and a significant minority of poor
households had no access to the PDS at all for lack of a ration card. Other relief measures
such as MNREGA and cash transfers also had a patchy coverage. The Covid-19 crisis brings
out once again that India needs a more reliable and comprehensive social security system.
Also, regional disparities must be taken into account while analysing food security situation.
The states of eastern India have one of the highest densities of poverty in the world and
experience extreme hunger (Kumar et al 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent
economic downturn may well exacerbate food insecurity and poverty in the region.
Insufficient food can lead to malnutrition, which can cause reduced productive capacity; this
in turn affects future earnings, which then can lead to a vicious circle of poverty and food
insecurity. Estimates of food insecurity in this particular region will have implications for
India’s efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The area in question are
comprises Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP), Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal. Together,
these states constitute approximately 39% of India’s total population and are home to about
140 million poor households (Ministry of Home Affairs 2011). The region accounts for 33%
of the country’s gross cropped area (Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare 2017).
Food security is about more than just having enough to eat; it includes the quality of the food
consumed and security with regard to its future availability. The COVID-19 and the
lockdowns that continue to be imposed in order to break the chain of transmission are
expected to worsen food insecurity through their respective pathways. Increased food prices
are another route through which COVID-19 has accentuated food insecurity. Supply chain
disruptions followed from travel restrictions, which in turn caused an increase in the price of
many commodities has made these areas much more rely on government food programmes.
Food insecurity has been further accentuated by increased expenditure on the hygiene
products necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19, expenditures on other pandemic-
related health costs, increased prices of essentials, and uncertainty about the future. Above all
those who have lost their bread winners needs to be given emotional support too. The next of
the deceased who is of working age needs to be trained in skill as soon as possible so that
family again stand on its feet.
The after effect of covid is equally concerning as instances of heart failure or fatigue has been
reported. That also needed to be taken into account while taking future course of action. We
should look back to 2008 when recession caused large job losses. Based on the experience of
the 2008 recession, even after the removal of a sudden economic shock or stressor, there can
often be an extended period of recovery from the food insecurity it causes. The negative
effects of the food insecurity are also well known to extend beyond adverse health and
malnutrition. Eastern India, which is home to around 140 million poor people, is being badly
affected by the COVID-19-induced lockdown. The lockdown is causing an alarming increase
in the number of food insecure households and there is an urgent requirement for active
intervention by the government and support from other civil organisations.
References:
1. https://www.epw.in/journal/2022/10/special-articles/determinants-and-dynamics-
food-insecurity
2. ideasforindia.in/topics/poverty-inequality/the-covid-19-crisis-and-food-security
3. https://www.ifpri.org/publication/impact-covid-19-household-food-insecurity-and-
interlinkages
4. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/covid-19-pandemic-hunger-catastrophe-
india-poverty-food-insecurity