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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | COVID-19: Report Reveals Severity of Food Crisis Faced by India's Poor in 2020 -Shinzani Jain

COVID-19: Report Reveals Severity of Food Crisis Faced by India's Poor in 2020 -Shinzani Jain

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published Published on Jun 2, 2021   modified Modified on Jun 4, 2021

-Newsclick.in

Report by prominent economist Jean Dreze and Anmol Somanchi highlights the severe economic distress and food crisis suffered by a vast majority of Indian poor following the 2020 lockdown. It demands a stronger wave of relief measures to avoid a repeat of the crisis.

On May 31, 2021, prominent economist Jean Drèze and Anmol Somanchi published a detailed report analysing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on food security, employment, income, household expenditure and the nutrition level of people in India. The report derives its conclusions from 76 household surveys compiled by the Centre for Sustainable Employment at Azim Premji University (CSE-APU) and data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

The report highlights that the period between April-May 2020 has been associated with a tremendous food crisis in the country with a large proportion of the population struggling to feed their families. Food intake dipped both in qualitative and quantitative terms for the majority of the population. The crisis has resulted in a sharp decline in the consumption of nutritious food including non-vegetarian items, the report noted. While some recovery was witnessed after June 2020, employment, income and nutrition levels continued to remain below pre-lockdown levels by the end of the year.

Quoting data from a number of surveys, the report underlines a sharp decline in employment and incomes during the national lockdown between April and May 2020. According to the Dalberg survey (covering 47,000 households in 15 states), well above 80% of households were affected by income reductions during May and June and a quarter of households earned no income at all. In a three round survey held between May and September, data from the IDinsight report highlights an average income reduction of 72%, 68% and 74% respectively. The survey found that the average weekly income of non-agricultural respondents had plunged from Rs 6,858 in March 2020 to Rs 1,929 in May 2020, and remained at this level in September 2020.

“It is doubtful that income and employment ever regained their pre-lockdown levels before a second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic hit the country in early 2021,” the report goes on to add. Drastic fall in employment and incomes contributed to severe food insecurity during the national lockdown.

According to the CSE-APU survey, 77% of people were eating less food than before between April and May 2020. The second round of the survey places this estimate at 60% for the period between October and December 2020. Data collected by ActionAid revealed that in May around 35% of nearly 10,000 informal workers (mainly migrants) consumed less than two meals a day. Even in the month of June, this number came close to 20%. Similar findings were reported by other surveys from different states highlighting that decline in incomes and employment resulted in an acute food crisis amongst the poor during the national lockdown period and hardships continued through the rest of the year.

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Newsclick.in, 2 June, 2021, https://www.newsclick.in/COVID-19-Report-Reveals-Severity-Food-Crisis-Faced-India-Poor-2020


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