Abstract:
This synthesis report examines the response of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and its role in pandemic response through the COVID & Food Systems Initiative and adjacent projects. For women and low-income communities, the report reveals significant negative impacts. Most attention of COVID response policies were directed toward rapid responses supporting farmers and markets, and less to more future-oriented projects contributing to greater systemic resilience. Interconnections between hunger and COVID have compounded the impacts of the pandemic on vulnerable populations. The pandemic and the lockdowns that followed are the first truly global disruption to contemporary food systems.
