Urban food markets and the COVID-19 lockdown in India
| Autor: | Shree Saha, Sudha Narayanan |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
030309 nutrition & dietetics
bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Economics Supply chain media_common.quotation_subject Food prices bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Economics|Other Economics SocArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Economics|Growth and Development Agricultural economics 03 medical and health sciences 0502 economics and business Safety Risk Reliability and Quality Emerging markets media_common 0303 health sciences Government Ecology bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Food Studies 05 social sciences SocArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Economics|Other Economics SocArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Economics language.human_language SocArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Food Studies Food policy language Harassment bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences 050202 agricultural economics & policy Psychological resilience Business SocArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences Safety Research bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Economics|Growth and Development Food Science Diversity (business) |
| Popis: | On March 24, 2020, the Government of India announced a 21-day national lockdown that has since been extended to May 31, 2020. The lockdown left urban food markets in disarray with severe supply bottlenecks and restrictions on doing business. At a time when food prices in India were declining consistently, supply disruptions consequent to the lockdown have reversed the trend on average. Based on an analysis of publicly available data on wholesale and retail prices for 22 commodities from 114 Centres, we find that prices have increased since the lockdown, as of August 1, 2020. There is significant diversity across commodities and geographies that mask aggregate figures. Average price increases were to the tune of over 6% for several pulses, over 3.5% for most edible oils, 15% for potato 28% for tomato in the four weeks post-lockdown compared to prices during the four weeks preceding the lockdown. Price of meat and fish too have registered large increases. Price wedge between retail and wholesale prices increased as did spatial dispersion, both signifying friction in supply chains. We find that smaller cities have seen a much higher increase in prices with some seeing a rise in retail food prices by as much as 20%. Three rounds of surveys, conducted between April and July, of food retailers in 14 Indian cities reveal serious operational challenges. These include, among others, transport and labor shortages, police harassment and social discrimination. At the same time, several innovative arrangements and adaptations have evolved as well suggesting resilience. The paper reviews these aspects and outlines some lessons for food policy in emerging economies. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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