Author: Pushpa Singh
Author Affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Miranda House, University of Delhi.
Abstract: Amid the unprecedented crisis created by Covid-19, there has emerged a fresh perspective on food and farming, reaffirming our faith in the resilience of the local food production system. The vagaries of pandemic has led us to rethink the idea of food security and patterns of food production, distribution and consumption. The new scenario marked with highly restricted mobility, highlighted the fragility and limitations of the centralised industrial agriculture heavily dependent on capital and external resources. On the other hand, small holders with diverse cropping patterns and local supply appeared resilient vis-à-vis medium and large farmers. Actually, it does not come as a surprise to see how time and again the monolithic model of development has been rejected, its futility has also been exposed and an awareness arrives through this pandemic. It would make many countries rethink their overall development trajectories in the light of new facts and figures vulnerability. Revisiting our understanding of agriculture during the ongoing lockdown would provide crucial insight into the future vision of agrarian developments. The impending Covid-19 crisis also provides an opportunity to mend our food and farming to make it local, diverse, resilient and sustainable.
Keywords: COVID-19, local food system, food security, agroecology, post-COVID 19 India.