TITLE:
Food Access and Experience of Food Insecurity in Nigerian Households during the COVID-19 Lockdown
AUTHORS:
Folake O. Samuel, Toluwalope E. Eyinla, Ariyo Oluwaseun, Oluwatosin O. Leshi, Bartholomew I. C. Brai, Wasiu A. O. Afolabi
KEYWORDS:
Food Security, COVID-19, FIES, Lockdown, Food Access
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.12 No.11,
November
18,
2021
ABSTRACT: The food insecurity experiences and related behaviors of Nigerian
households during the COVID-19 lockdown have not been fully discussed. This
study was conducted to elicit information on the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on
economic and behavioral patterns related to food access. An online-based
semi-structured questionnaire distributed through messaging platforms was used
to collect information on characteristics, food purchasing behaviour before and during COVID-19 lockdown among
respondents. Experience of food insecurity was assessed using Food
Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). A total of 883 responses were received and
analyzed using SPSS Version 20.0. Most of the respondents (90.5%) were at home
or had stopped going to work due to COVID-19 restrictions. Even though smaller
households had higher food expenditure
claims than larger households (p = 0.012), the larger the household, the more acute the challenge of economic
access to food (p = 0.050). Location (p = 0.000), age (p = 0.003),
occupation (p = 0.014) and income level (p = 0.000) were associated with
experience of food insecurity. In conclusion, lockdown restrictions increased
food expenditure and experience of food insecurity among the respondents and
thus we recommend the probe of long-term consequences of deviations from usual
food access on undernutrition or overnutrition in Nigerian households.