#Marine Al Dahdah

[medica-pseudoacademica]

In the present context, economic consequences [of the lockdown] on food are expected from two mechanisms. The first and most dangerous one is for all households losing their source of income. With little savings, those households who belong to the poorest segments of society are the first affected by the situation, among which the daily-wage earners, and more especially urban migrants, who are often left without any resource or even shelter. A second expected effect will affect all segments of society: the chain of food supply may not sustain itself. Some shopkeepers fear to open their shops, and street hawkers are not allowed to sell their stock. [link] Mobility has been severely hampered and hence food procurement is disrupted. On the production side, the lack of mobility of agricultural labourers endangers the harvest. Therefore difficulties in the supply of provisions may create food shortages and already increase food prices, against which the government now intervenes to set up price caps on necessary items. [link]

- Mathieu Ferry, Govindan Venkatasubramanian, Isabelle Guérin, and Marine Al Dahdah, “The Covid-19 Crisis in India: A Nascent Humanitarian Tragedy” on Books & Ideas (Apr. 13, 2020) (link)