This working paper reports on phase I – the exploratory phase – of ESRC-funded research into the effects of digitalising food assistance in India. In this study, we use a broad definition of food assistance that includes ‘food subsidies, strategic grain reserves, and social protection or longer-term social welfare programmes of both cash and in-kind transfers’ (Jaspars and Sathyamala, 2021: 5). Given that food subsidies and grain reserves are integral to agricultural policies, the Indian case study examines the digitalisation of agriculture sector and its consequences for the food security of both producers and consumers from marginal households.

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