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  • December 2021
  • Article
  • Food Policy

India's Food Supply Chain during the Pandemic

By: Matt Lowe, G.V. Nadhanael and Benjamin N. Roth
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:10
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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; Supply Chain; Health Pandemics; Food; Policy; System Shocks; Food and Beverage Industry; India

Citation

Lowe, Matt, G.V. Nadhanael, and Benjamin N. Roth. "India's Food Supply Chain during the Pandemic." Art. 102162. Food Policy 105 (December 2021).
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About The Author

Benjamin N. Roth

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • What Do Impact Investors Do Differently? By: Shawn A. Cole, Leslie Jeng, Josh Lerner, Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth
  • Does the Invisible Hand Efficiently Guide Entry and Exit? Evidence from a Vegetable Market Experiment in India By: Abhijit Banerjee, Greg Fischer, Dean Karlan, Matt Lowe and Benjamin N. Roth
  • Social Protection and Social Distancing During the Pandemic: Mobile Money Transfers in Ghana By: Dean Karlan, Matt Lowe, Robert Osei, Isaac Osei-Akoto, Benjamin N. Roth and Christopher Udry
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