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people throughout the country.
Hunger Collective
was formed soon after the lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus commenced.
When the lockdown began on March 25, 2020, daily wage earners and contract workers found themselves out of jobs and without any income. Migrant workers suffered the same fate and were stranded without means to travel back to their homes. For them, food and ration became inaccessible and unaffordable.

Hunger Collective started out as an initiative to provide food and ration to those in need. Impactree's technology driven solution connects donors, volunteers and local organisations, and local grocers directly to those in need.
Over time, Hunger Collective has expanded and done more than just distribute rations. Hunger Collective has –
  • Arranged trains and sent hundreds of migrant workers from Tamil Nadu back to their homes.
  • Donated over 1,000 PPE kits to frontline workers working in COVID-19 relief centres in Mumbai.
  • Provided sanitary napkins to over 1,500 vulnerable women.
  • Assisted in setting up infrastructure for fever clinics 
How Hunger Collective distributed ration

Challenges

  • ​The demand for food from migrant workers and low income household is unevenly scattered. This makes distribution of funding through an established supply chain a challenge ⁠during lockdown.
  • ​The lockdown has slowed down the logistics movement which has led to a food shortage and price increase.

Impactree's Solution

We have developed a technology driven process that is hyper-local and widespread.

Through WhatsApp, Impactree has connected with local volunteer groups, non-profit organisations, civic bodies, societies and government schools and agencies to map demand and deliver supplies.
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  • The demand for food is directly entered into our database using our website and Google forms.
  • ​Depending on the demand, volunteers, grocers or ration shop owners verify the requirements and details of the beneficiaries over the phone.
  • Once the demand is verified, the supplies (or money) are either sent directly to the beneficiaries through community volunteers or NGOs on the ground or to a local grocer we've identified and connected with using digital payments systems. 
  • The fulfillment of the demand is ensured within an hour with photos of the groceries received which is communicated to the donors. 
Some of the communities served:

  • Daily wage earners and farming communities in rural areas
  • Mining and construction workers
  • Children in government schools
  • Migrants and underprivileged communities
  • Rag pickers and solid waster management professionals 
  • Artisans 
  • Commercial sex workers and transgenders
  • Daily wage earners in tourism and service industries 
  • Differently able and handicapped
  • People affected by natural or man made disasters
How Hunger Collective helped migrant workers travel back home
Hunger Collective initially supplied the migrant workers with two months’ worth of ration. But we soon realised that this solution was not sustainable and the workers going back home was the best option. To achieve this goal, we worked with NGOs, media and corporates, government organisation, Indian Railways, IRCTC and the police force of states to send migrants back home through Shramik trains. Hunger collective teams support was crucial in bridging the verification and logistic challenges faced by various stakeholders in ensuring smooth operations of trains during COVID. Further with the support of civil society and donors the hunger collective team was able to sponser the journey and provide essentials and food supplies and counselling for over 10,000 migrants sent from Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu through this initiative. 
Advisors
Zia Hajeebhoy
Dr. Anil Menon R.
A huge thank you to our donors and sponsors.
We plan to formalise these activities soon and launch Impactree social foundation as part of our CSR.