Brief

Was a government policy able to smooth a fractured agri-food value chain during a COVID-19 lockdown?

Despite widespread use of government policy
response instruments to placate impacts that COVID-19
lockdowns had on agri-food value chains, there is
limited evidence on their effectiveness and impacts on
value chain actors, particularly those in the ‘missing
or (hidden) middle.’ 1 To shed on one such policy, we
examine whether a fresh fruit and vegetable (FFV)
procurement program operated by self-help groups
(SHGs) in the state of Odisha, India during the world’s
most severe COVID-19 lockdown 2 was able to smooth
fractured value chain