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Collaborations that Addressed Food Insecurity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Engaging with the Public Distribution System
The document summarizes collaborations to address food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Asia. It describes how a survey found economic crisis and food insecurity during lockdowns. It engaged with Public Distribution Systems and food distribution drives. It details how they mapped PDS shops, built staff capacity, established government contacts, and ensured community access to services. Challenges included lockdowns and changing policies, but enablers included technology, frequent follow-ups, and community partnerships. Results included 399 mapped shops, 50,715 families informed, and 13,113 people accessing COVID schemes. It highlights the story of a woman who accessed rations for her family after learning about her rights. Key learnings included tweaking interventions
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Collaborations that Addressed Food Insecurity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Engaging with the Public Distribution System
- 1. DELIVERING FOR NUTRITIONIN SOUTH ASIA Implementation Research in the Context of COVID-19 December 2, 2021 Vinita Ajgaonkar Engaging with the Public Distribution System Collaborations that Addressed Food Insecurity during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- 2. Collaborations that AddressedFood Insecurity during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- 3. We collaborate withcommunities and public health systems to improve health outcomes Lessons during the pandemic THE CONTINUUM OF CARE APPROACH Maternal Health Child Health Adolescent Health Safety Gender Equality Prevention of Domestic Violence • Quantitative survey (April-June 2020): 1567 randomly selected respondents aged 18 years and older from urban vulnerable communities revealed economic crisis and food insecurity during the pandemic induced lockdown • Engagement with the Public Distribution System initiated as a sustainable alternative along with collaborative food (cooked and dry) distribution drives About SNEHA
- 4. Collecting information - MappingPDS shops - Collecting relevant Government orders on new schemes Building staff capacity Establishing contacts - Dept. of Food and Civil Supplies - PDS officers/ Inspectors - Rationing Controller Internal liaison across SNEHA - Building database of PDS card holders & Non card holders - liaising between government officials, PDS shops, community & NGOs Ensuring access to services - Building capacity of people on entitlements - Enabling complaints - Monitoring access - Capturing data on uptake of schemes Amplifying community concerns, ensuring redressal Interventions
- 5. Challenges Enablers • Restrictedaccess to target population due to lockdown • Apathetic system • Rapidly changing policy guidelines • No clear channels of information across the PDS system – Centre, State, officials, ration shops • Lack of experience and expertise • Committed cadre of volunteers • Investment in technology and timely collection of contact numbers of target groups – formation of WhatsApp groups for coordination & troubleshooting • Frequent and consistent follow up with Dept. of Food & Civil Supplies and PDS staff at all levels • Continuous phone based/online meetings with community members to update on new orders/schemes announced • Partnership with organisations having experience and expertise
- 6. • 399 PDSshops mapped • 50,715 families received information on PDS • 1,376 community volunteers trained through 172 trainings • 80 families received new ration cards • 3,000 families with no cards helped to access free food grains under emergency PDS schemes • 13,113 people accessed special COVID-19 schemes related to PDS • Improved functioning of PDS shops reported by the communities • Communities able to exercise their right to food security; register complaints with shopkeepers and ration offices Results
- 7. The loss oflivelihood during the lockdown forced 19 year old P and her daily wager family to move back to their village. However, the food supply in the village market was very limited, nor were they allowed to use their PDS card from the city to obtain food from the village PDS shop. Like many households in the village, the circumstances for P’s family went from dire to desperate as employment and food availability remained scarce. After attending online sessions on PDS organised by SNEHA, P learnt that holders of the orange PDS card, like her family, are entitled to special benefits during the lockdown. Equipped with the knowledge of protocol and of her rights, P approached the PDS shop once again. This time, when she was denied ration, she stood her ground, informing the shop owner of her card status and how its validity could be verified online, and insisted on getting her entitlements, till she was finally able to access ration for her family. Not stopping there, P wrote to the local administrator, who eventually agreed to deliver essential food commodities to her village. Thanks to her efforts, the village families had food at home on a regular basis. Putting food on the plate…
- 8. • Need totweak existing interventions to respond to emergent community needs • Need to address food insecurity as the basis for health intervention • Need for an inter-sectoral approach to bridge the gap between government welfare policies and their implementation • Need for efforts to generate mass awareness on social protection schemes and to facilitate their access and uptake by vulnerable communities. Learnings