India’s Food Supply Chain during the Pandemic
This paper examines volumes and prices in wholesale food markets across the country during different phases of lockdown
Abstract
We quantify the extent of supply chain disruptions in food markets during the nation-wide lockdown in India in response to COVID-19 by looking at volumes and prices in wholesale food markets across the country during different phases of lockdown. Food arrivals fell by around 60% following the announcement of lockdown, but volumes recovered to near normal levels within two months. The initial fall in food arrivals was highly correlated with the prevalence of COVID-19 at the state-level, but within each state, COVID-19-hit districts were no harder hit than others. This suggests that state-level policies drove supply chain responses rather than localised fears of contracting the virus. Our findings together underscore the need for state government policies to minimise supply chain interruptions during such lockdowns.
This work is part of the Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries (PEDL) programme
Citation
Matt Lowe and Benjamin Roth “India’s Food Supply Chain during the Pandemic” PEDL C-19 Note