Diverse coping strategies for food insecurity : A qualitative study of economically precarious households in India in the context of COVID-19

Vasudev, Charumita and Mishra, Swayamshree and Rathi, Ankita and Fledderjohann, Jasmine and Vellakkal, Sukumar (2026) Diverse coping strategies for food insecurity : A qualitative study of economically precarious households in India in the context of COVID-19. PLoS One, 21 (6): e0350020. ISSN 1932-6203

Abstract

Objective: The study examines how households in two Indian states managed food insecurity in the context of COVID-19, focusing on differences between migrant and non-migrant households in rural and urban areas. Methods: We integrate Davies’ framework of coping strategies with the Sustainable Livelihoods and Resilience frameworks to analyze how coping capacity is shaped by structural inequalities, existing resources, social networks, and access to entitlements. Between December 2022 and March 2023, we conducted 343 semi-structured interviews in 86 households in Uttar Pradesh and Goa, purposively sampled by migration status, location, caste, and household type. Thematic analysis was complemented with narrative analysis of 60 interviews from 15 households that had experienced severe COVID-related shocks, including job loss, reverse migration, and illness. Findings: Strategies ranged from routine adjustments—dietary substitutions, portion control, and pooling resources—to erosive responses such as maternal buffering, selling assets, accumulating debt, withdrawing children from school, and delaying healthcare. Rural non-migrants drew on kinship ties and PDS support, while migrants, especially circular migrant workers/recent arrivals were excluded from both entitlements and social support networks. Reverse migration reconnected households with rural networks but also strained agrarian systems. Conclusion: Migration status and rural–urban location critically shaped resilience. Coping responses to COVID-19 depended less on income loss than on structural access to entitlements and social support networks, highlighting the need for inclusive, context-specific, and targeted social protection.