2021
Working Paper
HBS Working Paper Series

India's Food Supply Chain during the Pandemic

By: Matt Lowe, G.V. Nadhanael and Benjamin N. Roth

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:49

Abstract

We document the impact of India’s COVID-19 lockdown on the food supply chain. Food arrivals in wholesale markets dropped by 69% in the three weeks following the lockdown and wholesale prices rose by 8%. Six weeks after the lockdown began, volumes and prices had fully recovered. The initial food supply shock was highly correlated with early incidence of COVID-19. We provide evidence that this correlation is due more to state-level lockdown policy variation than local responses of those in the food supply chain. Finally, during the recovery phase, the correlation between the food supply disruption and COVID-19 exposure disappeared, suggesting uniform recovery.

Keywords

COVID-19; Health Pandemics; Food; Supply Chain; India

Citation

Lowe, Matt, G.V. Nadhanael, and Benjamin N. Roth. "India's Food Supply Chain during the Pandemic." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-070, December 2020. (Revised July 2021. Forthcoming at Food Policy.)