India

Fears of COVID-19 transmission, along with social-distancing measures, have disrupted many important public services worldwide, both directly and indirectly. In India, Phuong Nguyen and colleagues conducted surveys to compare use of public health and nutrition services before, during and after COVID-19 lockdowns in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Despite extra efforts from frontline workers during and after lockdowns, services were disrupted; in addition, demand for those services decreased post-lockdown because of the fear of pandemic health risks.

The world has made tremendous progress in improving food security and nutrition. The proportion of people experiencing hunger fell from 14.7% to 10.6% between 2000 and 2015. And we’ve made progress on undernutrition, with the prevalence of child stunting dropped from 40% to 23% between 1990 and 2015. Food systems – the technical, economic, social and environmental processes and actors through which we feed the world’s population – have played a huge role in this progress.

THis article was written by Summer Allen, Research Coordinator at IFPRI

The India Food Security Portal provides policy research, capacity-building resources, and an active and inclusive policy network that is fostered through interactive dialogues on food security. The goal of the India Food Security Portal is to inform the policymaking process and ensure that food security-relevant policy processes at the national and state levels in India are more effective at addressing food insecurity.

We are very pleased to announce the launch of the India Food Security Portal.