Mar 29, 2020
In wake of the pandemic disease outbreak, Indian government has declared Rs 1.7-lakh crore package for the people living below poverty line.
The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has the world scrambling for every morsel of food.
In India, the three-week lockdown has brought a disruption in food distribution networks, affecting the last-mile supply chain. To bring the situation to normalcy the central government on March 26, 2020 announced free cereals for the poor and marginalized sections of the people for coming next three months.
FM Nirmala Sitharaman declared Rs 1.7-lakh crore package under ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana’, under this scheme 1 kilogram pulses/month per household, and 5kg of wheat or rice/month per person will be delivered to 800 million neediest people — this is besides what they have been getting through other sources.
About 20 % of the world is under lockdown situation; several countries are taking drastic steps to ensure food security. According to media reports, Vietnam, world’s third-biggest rice exporter has suspended export contracts. Kazakhstan, the ninth-biggest wheat exporter has banned exports too, thus locking all the exports to feed the domestic population.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has warned that protectionist measures by countries could cause food shortages around the world.
The Globe faces a similar story. Residents of China are complaining of food shortages; in the USA stocks are running low in supermarkets and shelves are devoid of food stuffs; many African countries are reporting price hike in almost all the food products; and same case is with Canada, as its agricultural sector has warned price hike and serve food shortage in coming days.
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) warned of the gravest situation that millions across the globe will be facing a possibility of harsh drought.
According to Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary, UNCCD, over 70 countries are already affected by drought. It said in a statement that in April, a record 45 million people in southern Africa may face food insecurity in face of drought resonant of the 2015-2017 drought.
“The World Food Programme needed $489 million dollars by February 2020 to help 8.3 million people who were facing food insecurity in the region, but are yet to raise half the required sum,” it said.
The pandemic also has the potential to disrupt the agricultural cropping cycle. The yield from India’s Rabi crop harvest will be affected amid lockdown amid labour shortage, lack of transport facilities and closure of markets/mandis. Labourers would also be reluctant to work fearing infection.
A letter was addressed to request the government to ensure that farmers should be able to harvest with necessary protection against COVID-19. It said agricultural work should not be brought under lockdown since food supply chains will be vastly disrupted if crops are not harvested at the right time.