SOUTH ASIA COVID-19 BLOG SERIES LAUNCH

ReSAKSS-Asia and the IFPRI-South Asia office is curating a special series of blog posts analyzing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sub-national, national, and regional food and nutrition security, poverty, and development. The series is edited by South-Asia Regional Director Shahidur Rashid, Research Fellow Samuel Scott and Research Fellow Kalyani Raghunathan. IFPRI-SAR op-eds on COVID-19 published in leading national dailies are available here. To receive regular updates on regional COVID-19 policy responses, subscribe to our IFPRI-SAR newsletter.

This special blogs series is in continuation of our global efforts with a special attention to the South Asia region. It provides a platform for researchers, policy makers, and civil society leaders to share their insights and analysis of the impacts and policy responses to COVID-19 pandemic at the national and regional levels.

The lockdowns in South Asia has disrupted the livelihoods of over 1.7 billion people. The Indian economy was projected to grow by over 6% only a couple of months ago and is now confronted with the risk of experiencing economic contraction and negative growth, potentially reversing improvements in social and economic well-being.

The COVID-19 impacts are not hard to imagine. Loss of livelihoods, disruptions to supply chains, reduced / suspended access to health and nutrition services, and overwhelmed social protection systems will directly or indirectly impact food and nutrition security. While the focus has hitherto been on managing emergencies, major shifts in policies and investment will be needed to protect the gains the region has made over the past decades. The IFPRI-South Asia blog series will delve into several of these issues from sub-national, national, and regional perspectives.

To read the complete blog series click here.