COVID-19

From Agricultural Nutrition and Social Empowerment to Human Nutrition and Health in India – a workshop held on 24 July 2021. Organised by the NNEdPro Global Centre for Nutrition and Health, in partnership with the University of Cambridge TIGR2ESS GCRF Programme and the University of Surrey Maharashtra GCRF. Life course...

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed many challenges for researchers. Those who usually work in the field have been particularly affected. Here, TIGR2ESS intern Ellie Brain shares her experience of carrying out research remotely. She outlines key principles used for evaluating development initiatives from afar, considering the caveats based on personal experience, but also remote research’s power to highlight research’s pre-existing limitations and what can be done to change them.

Lockdown has stopped much research, not just for TIGR2ESS, but across the world. However, some of our researchers have been fortunate enough to continue their work. Here, Rob Jackson (NIAB, Cambridge) and Himanshu Sharma (Punjab Agricultural University) from Flagship Project 3 , describe how lockdown has affected their research.

There is a Chinese proverb that states: “May you live in interesting times”. It has become something of a running joke between my brother and I, usually in reference to the climate crisis. But now, having seen no friends, relatives or work colleagues for over six weeks, these words no longer represent a flippant comment to my sibling: we really are living in an interesting time, and certainly not a straightforward one.

The COVID-19 pandemic is not only a health crisis but an economic crisis too. In particular, the anxiety and fear COVID-19 has created among the poor is unprecedented. It has also created a double burden for this group; loss of income now and loss of hope, or aspirations, for the future. Here, Dr Ravi Nandi and Dr S. Nedumaran from Flagship Project 1 at ICRISAT examine the evidence for policies to improve aspirations in times of crisis.

Women’s role in agriculture is of the utmost importance not only for developing the rural economy but also in ensuring food security. During COVID-19 lockdown in India, women’s unpaid workload in both domestic chores and care for family has noticeably increased. Here, Dr Pratheepa and Dr Rengalakshmi from the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) describe the situation faced by agricultural labour families in their study area for TIGR2ESS Flagship Project 1 and how women are tackling the lockdown period.

The recently extended lockdown in India, now in force until 3 May, is a necessary measure to slow the spread of COVID-19 and thereby save lives. India’s large population and the capacity of the health sector in the country to handle the pandemic means slowing the spread of infection is essential. But the impacts of the lockdown are not gender-neutral. Women are more vulnerable from both a health and economic perspective. Here, Padmaja Ravula from Flagship Projects 1 and 6 shares her insights into the impact of the lockdown on women who work as domestic help or in part-time occupations in urban and peri-urban Hyderabad.

In Mangalta village, 20 women are working non-stop, packing and processing food and nutrition supplements to be distributed to the most vulnerable sections of the society - pregnant and nursing mothers, infants and children under six years. This has become even more critical during the COVID-19 lockdown period. As Babita (35), a federation functionary said, “We need to ensure the take home rations are delivered to the Anganwadi Centre (Child-care centres run under the Integrated Child Development Services or ICDS), so the workers can ensure this reaches those who need it most in these times of lockdown. We are taking all the necessary safety and precautionary measures such as maintaining physical distancing , use of sanitisers and masks and so on”.

The 21-day long COVID-19 lockdown in India, which is now set to continue until 3 May, has undoubtedly severed market linkages. Farmers are desperate for actions that can avoid wiping out their incomes. This blog, from Dr Rekha Bhangaonkar of Flagship Project 6 , highlights some initiatives put in place to rescue the situation.

Ground-level evidence from Tamil Nadu on the sudden disruption of supply chains for both non-perishable and perishable commodities has pointed to the adverse effects of COVID-19 on farming and farmers’ livelihoods. In Thanjavur, known as the ‘granary of south India’, and Pudukottai and Villupuram districts of Tamil Nadu state, farmers are unable to sell their produce. Without adequate storage facilities, they are staring not just at losses, but also lack of liquidity to prepare for the next planting season. In the absence of a market, or storage, many have not bothered to harvest the crop.