The new face of hunger: Building a resilient food system in an age of pandemic
SAWTEE implemented the project from September 2020 to January 2021. The project was funded by Institute of Policy Studies. The lockdown introduced to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of food systems in Nepal (a landlocked, net food importing country).
Likelihood of future shortcomings in food production and reduced food availability appears to be gathering momentum. Reduced demand, mainly due to the closure of hotels and restaurants, and market uncertainties is pushing farmers to the brink. Further, inefficiencies in food supply chains are leading to food losses and food waste, resulting in wastage of valuable resources, although, especially in urban areas, e-commerce helped address the supply constraints to some extent. The proposed study suggested ways to recover from the immediate shock with the aim of building more sustainable, resilient and inclusive food systems. It helped to develop evidence-based solutions and policy reforms that would be relevant to a set of countries, sub regions, or regions, as a response to the middle and
long term
challenges of COVID-19’.