Presentation "COVID-19 risk and food value chains: Insights from India" by Sudha Narayanan, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research.
More info and full recording of this webinar:
https://bit.ly/COVID-FVC
Webinar: COVID-19 risk and food value chains (presentation 2)
1. W E B I N AR
COVID-19 RISK AND FOOD VALUE CHAINS
December 11, 2020 / 10:00 – 11:00 AM EDT
PRESENTERS:
Kalle Hirvonen, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Sudha Narayanan, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research
Ben Belton, Michigan State University / WorldFish
MODERATOR:
Nick Minot, IFPRI
DISCUSSANT:
Frank Place, CGIAR Research Program on
Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)
2. COVID-19 RISK AND FOOD VALUE
CHAINS
Insights from India
Sudha Narayanan
Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, India
December 11, 2020
3. The COVID19 Crisis in India
• Both a health crisis and an
economic crisis
• First case was detected on
January 31, 2020
• Early action: nationwide
lockdown imposed on March
24, 2020 (until May 31,
2020).
• Government “one step
behind”, reactive
• Economic crisis triggered;
health crisis continues to
unfold…
4. Food supply chains unraveled
• Farming operations – access to own farms; availability of labour and
machinery
• Intermittent mandi closures, high risk areas
• Village itinerant traders stopped coming; reluctant to procure and offering
low prices
• Transport challenges (costs doubled; truckers/loaders unavailable)
• Warehouses/cold storages too faced labour constraints
• Agroprocessors were operating below capacity, if at all (30-50%)
• Bottlenecks through to the retail end, including exports, demand collapse
(HORECA)
• Plantation crops and livestock/poultry/fisheries particularly badly hit
11. Lockdown had affected them very badly 39%
A household member lost his/her job 23.5%
Had to borrow food, rely on others for food or skip a meal at least once in the past 1
week?
23%
Faced a problem
- Getting food in adequate quantity and variety in the village 40.7%
- Finding work 70.5%
- Earning income 81.2%
- Paying back loans (for those with debt) 85.1%
Coping Strategy
Borrowing 38%
Cutting back on expenses 85%
Selling assets 3%
Relying on Friends and relative 20%
Farmer Survey –April-May 2020 (˜370 farmers from 9 states)
Findings consistent across surveys
12. Key insights and concluding remarks
• Public procurement has helped; as has private innovation
• Role of FPOs and agri-tech firms – small scale, but effective
Online food delivery orders (referred to as “foodtech”) dropped by 75% in April 2020, relative to January
2020 (e-commerce fell by 83% over this period), e-grocery in contrast rose by 27%. (Redseer), but e-
grocers struggled.
• Informal food retailers have been crucial.
• Role of the state (especially by state governments)
• Procurement of rice, wheat, pulses and oil seeds
• In-kind food grain distribution (milk, tea, fruits and vegetables in some
states)
• Food insecurity remains high
• Consumer demand down
• In July, overall food expenditure 12% lower, y-o-y (CMIE data); 18% lower for
cereals; dairy, eggs and meat 10% lower.
• Inflation remains high.
13. More info and recording
of this webinar:
https://bit.ly/COVID-FVC