Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Systems and Determinants of Resilience in Indigenous Communities of Jharkhand State, India: A Serial Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has globally jeopardized food security, with heightened threats for the most vulnerable including smallholder farmers as well as rural, indigenous populations. A serial cross-sectional study was conducted to document effect of COVID-19 pandemic on food environment, agricultural practices, diets and food security, along with potential determinants of food systems resilience, among vulnerable smallholder farmer households in indigenous communities of Santhal, Munda, and Sauria Paharia of Jharkhand state, India. Telephonic household surveys were conducted in two phases i.e., lockdown and unlock phase to assess the impact of the pandemic on their food systems and agricultural practices. Market surveys were conducted during the unlock phase, to understand the impact on local informal markets. Secondary data on state and district level food production and Government food security programs were also reviewed. For data analysis purpose, a conceptual framework was developed which delineated possible pathways of impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food environment, food security and food consumption patterns along with factors that may offer resilience. Our findings revealed adverse effects on food production and access among all three communities, due to restrictions in movement of farm labor and supplies, along with disruptions in food supply chains and other food-related logistics and services associated with the pandemic and mitigation measures. The pandemic significantly impacted the livelihoods and incomes among all three indigenous communities during both lockdown and unlock phases, which were attributed to a reduction in sale of agricultural produce, distress selling at lower prices and reduced opportunity for daily wage laboring. A significant proportion of respondents also experienced changes in dietary intake patterns. Key determinants of resilience were identified; these included accessibility to agricultural inputs like indigenous seeds, labor available at household level due to back migration and access to diverse food environments, specifically the wild food environment. There is a need for programs and interventions to conserve and revitalize the bio-cultural resources available within these vulnerable indigenous communities and build resilient food systems that depend on shorter food supply chains and utilize indigenous knowledge systems and associated resources, thereby supporting healthy, equitable and sustainable food systems for all.

Diet change and sustainability in Indigenous areas: Characteristics, drivers, and impacts of diet change in Gunayala, Panama

“…Similar observations have been made in other Indigenous contexts (Finnis, 2007;Sheehy et al, 2013). More importantly, reliance on purchased food items might increase food access vulnerability to livelihood disruptions and/or price increases, as for example evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic (Stanger-McLaughlin et al, 2022;Ghosh-Jerath et al, 2022).…”

The Influence of Food Environments on Food Security Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Examination of Urban and Rural Difference in Kenya

“…On the contrary, some food groups, such as dark leafy greens depended on a shorter, more local, supply chain and were reported to be easier to acquire and had a higher reported consumption particularly in the rural communities. Similar studies, which used a variation of the C-SCAN survey, found that households in China and India that relied primarily on cultivated food environments, and, therefore, shorter more local supply chains, were more resilient to negative changes in the food system and had to change their diet less to accommodate for those negative changes [ 12 , 22 ]. In addition to an impact diet quality, the COVID-19 pandemic had a large impact on food security.…”

“…These areas were selected based on prior work conducted by members of the study team [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. The total sample size ( n = 300) was selected based on sample size calculations conducted by similar researchers using the same rapid assessment (C-SCAN) in other geographical locations [ 12 , 22 ]. In order to reach the total sample size in both settings, a larger study sample was approached for participation in the study.…”

“…This study utilized a two-part survey that contained a tool titled COVID-19 Surveillance Community Action Network (C-SCAN) for Food Systems [ 12 ] and the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) [ 13 ]. The C-SCAN survey is a transferable tool designed by Ahmed and colleagues [ 12 ] to evaluate the influence of food environments on food security resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been used in India [ 22 ] and the Northern Great Plains in the United States [ 24 ]. The survey contained six parts and elicited information regarding socio-demographic profiles, food sources, perceptions of food security aspects such as food availability, access, diets, household income, and farming and gardening systems.…”

Utilization of Nutritional Supplementation Services and Their Predictors in Pregnant and Lactating Women Living in an Urban Resettlement Colony of Delhi, India: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The Covid-19 pandemic had significantly disrupted national health programs in India including the ICDS due to lockdowns, fear of infection in the public, and diversion of frontline workers for other Covid-related duties which potentially compromised the sustainability of existing food systems, especially amongst vulnerable communities [ 14 ]. However, there is a paucity of information on the utilization of ICDS in Northern India during the period of the Covid-19 (THR) pandemic.…”