Super Spreaders
The sudden lockdown in March 2020 left India’s food supply in disarray. Across the country, ready produce from the farms could not reach local markets. Grocery shops were shut and vending on streets was prohibited.
01 Belarus
60 Sri Lanka
69 Nepal
81 Bangladesh
102 Pakistan
111 India
125 Central African Republic
Source: Global Hunger Index, 2023
Wasting in Children
Underweight Children
Stunting in Children
Anemia Among Women
Anemia in Children <5
-
4.621
-
4.268
-
3.893
-
3.201
-
3.066
In response to escalating food insecurity, SEWA launched a massive food aid operation in March 2020, ensuring that essential goods and food reached their members. Decades of trust in SEWA’s work resulted in permits for them to travel across district lines. Food delivery routes doubled as supply chains for home-based artisans, and distribution networks for masks and health campaigns. SEWA’s Kamla Cafés served as community kitchens, providing warm meals to those who lacked access to food.
In the cities, street vendors worked late into the night when curfews were lifted, rushing to the few wholesale markets (mandis) that remained operational, enduring frequent beatings and evictions. As COVID-19 case counts rose, these essential workers, who risked their lives to ensure that food reached India’s tables, were vilified by the media. They were called Super Spreaders.
SEWA’s urban members leveraged RUDI’s long-standing distribution networks to send and receive critical food-aid, products, and services to and from the villages. Working in tandem with members across trades, they stabilized lives and livelihoods for tens of thousands of families.
Agriculture is the primary source of livelihoods in India. Three of four full-time farm workers are women, as men migrate to cities for jobs. Female landownership nonetheless has remained low, posing barriers to credit, subsidies and entitlements, and ultimately thwarting production capacity. Profit margins remain slim due to persistent market inefficiencies that favor traders over producers.
To create efficient, fair, and inclusive agricultural market systems, SEWA established the Rural Distribution Network (RUDI) in 2004, linking farmers directly to consumers by aggregating, processing, and distributing over 30 products, generating multiple employment opportunities along the way. Early adopters of digital platforms, RUDIbens have been sending and receiving orders on mobile devices for a decade. RUDI is now a self-reliant agro-producing company with an annual average turnover of USD 1.2m.
In 2015, SEWA expanded its operations to reach the urban “last mile” by launching the Kamla project, promoting organic, nutritious, and traditional Indian meals in residential neighborhoods. The original lunch service and training center now boasts bustling Kamla Cafés, including at the Indian Institute for Management, in Ahmedabad.
Super Spreaders
Agriculture is the primary source of livelihoods in India. Three of four full-time farm workers are women, as men migrate to cities for jobs.
