Preparing food systems for disasters

Any interventions dealing with the food supply chain (production, processing, and distribution) while being time-sensitive, also have to contend with two major constraints, which must form the organising principles for logistics management: Overcoming limits on movement of people who are the key actors in the food supply chain in a lockdown situation; and ensuring compliance with conditions of interaction, with the pandemic requiring physical distancing and hygiene measures.

It is suggested that responses to challenges in the food supply chain be organised with three possible phases in mind, namely during the lockdown, transition from the lockdown and the post-pandemic period. Regardless of the phase, the objective will need to be food security with public safety. That must be the new normal.

Phase I: During lockdown, the priority is to address the sudden disruption in food supply. This initial crisis response is based on the assumption that there is adequate stock, while the problem is essentially of supply at a time of high demand (due to panic-buying and hoarding in urban areas, unmet demand in rural areas, and the additional need for emergency food assistance).

To keep the supplies going safely, the supply of protective personal equipment (PPE) for those engaged in the food supply chain operations has to be ensured. Mass distribution of masks, soaps and sanitisers to all involved -- mandi handlers, transport drivers, street vendors, is absolutely necessary. Civil supplies need to reach people, but they also need to be delivered with careful handling for disease control. Operational instructions for all food suppliers and food retailers will need to be issued.

It is critical to continue government food and nutrition programmes, including delivery of food baskets (uncooked food items) to be collected by parents or guardians, rather than having crowds in the schools/anganwadis. Many of the raw materials for preparation of school meals, in particular perishables, are usually procured locally. This is an important market for small producers of milk and poultry, as well as growers of vegetables and fruits, etc. in villages. Such and more local consumption from local production must be supported. For instance, the need for supply of food to relief camps for migrant workers, if met from direct farm procurement, will also help farmers who are unable to transport and sell perishables outside of their areas because of the lockdown. In urban and peri-urban areas, safe systems of home delivery by wage-dependent informal distributors, such as street-vendors, minimising physical contact while safeguarding livelihoods must be quickly put in place. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other procuring agencies of the central and state governments need to be sensitised about safety measures and supplied safety gear. From the point of view of sales in mandis that are open, the staggering of transactions by announcing a village-wise time schedule and issue of coupons to individual farmers, as to when the produce should be brought to the mandis, could be thought of.

Phase II: Transition out of lockdown requires preparation for the phased removal of restrictions on movement. This is the time when more actors in the food supply chain will attempt to resume operations, so the public safety aspect has to be paramount. The day after the lockdown ends (and beyond) is critical and cannot be a full return to ‘normal life.’ A roadmap for the period after the lockdown will be needed in advance so that people are prepared to follow safety protocols in food handling. A Standard Operating Procedure/Code of Practice for anyone with public food dealings will be useful to announce.

Phase III: Post-pandemic is when governments can gradually step back from the firefighting to pave way for return to near normalcy. It will entail restoration and reconstruction work to deal with long term impacts of the shock. Post-pandemic evaluation and assessment of all aspects of the food supply chain to gauge the impacts will need to be initiated.

It cannot be a return to ‘Business As Usual’ scenario but must be used as an opportunity to put in place a new normal. Disaster Risk Management has to be mainstreamed in agriculture and allied sectors so that the breakdown of the food supply chain never happens again.

(Tomio Shichiri is the India Representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation; Shalini Bhutani is a legal researcher and policy analyst)