A System Dynamics Approach to Rural Community Resilience: Learnings from the COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper uses a system dynamics approach to explain how the existing socio-economic conditions in a rural region in India interact with external factors and produce feedback loops in the context of COVID-19. The Causal Loop Diagram derived using primary data, shows these linkages by examining the local health infrastructure and the lockdown as the two major external factors. Understanding their compounding effects provides insights into the antecedents of community resilience. The effects of the pandemic inspired community-led initiatives to enable people to overcome the hardships and revived community networks. Efforts by the government were directed not only towards improving the health infrastructure but also endeavored to address people’s misunderstandings about the pandemic. The study offers lessons to orient policy interventions for sustainable solutions to achieve the desired developmental goals and community well-being.