May 2020, South Asia
Ensuring food security and nutrition in South Asia during COVID-19
Cecile Fruman and Yinan Zhang

When Anushree Shridhar heard that vegetables and fruits were rotting in fields near Bengaluru because of India’s COVID-19 lockdown, she knew she had to do something to connect farmers and hungry families.

Anushree, a senior accounting assistant with the World Bank’s Chennai office, helped family and friends collect enough money to buy 10 tons of fresh produce from about 250 farmers. Using masks and gloves, the volunteers delivered free, nutritious food to the Central Reserve Police Force’s family quarters and a dozen settlements where poor families are struggling to survive. “This is a win-win,” she said. “Farmers get a reasonable price for their crops and the needy get to fill their stomachs.”

Anushree and others worry that the loss of jobs due to COVID-19 will reverse hard-fought gains to improve nutrition – and the overall health – of children and women throughout South Asia.