The Early Food Insecurity Impacts of COVID-19

Niles, Meredith T.; Bertmann, Farryl; Belarmino, Emily H.; Wentworth, Thomas R.; Biehl, Erin; Neff, Roni A.

doi:10.1101/2020.05.09.20096412

Cited by 122 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Our results demonstrate that the experience of food insecurity was not limited to only those on low incomes, and that loss of income at any level above 25% contributed to substantially higher odds of experiencing food insecurity. Results from a survey in the north-eastern US state of Vermont, identified a 33% increase in food insecurity since the beginning of the pandemic, with 24% of households experiencing food insecurity (up from 18%) [ 27 ]. A Canadian survey [ 28 ] conducted during April–May 2020 found that almost one in seven (14.6%) Canadians experienced food insecurity to some degree in the previous 30 days, and those who had reduced employment due to COVID-19, were more likely to be food insecure (28.4%) than those who were working (10.7%) [ 28 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and Socio-Demographic Predictors of Food Insecurity in Australia during the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2020

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The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated economic vulnerabilities and disrupted the Australian food supply, with potential implications for food insecurity. This study aims to describe the prevalence and socio-demographic associations of food insecurity in Tasmania, Australia, during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional survey (deployed late May to early June 2020) incorporated the U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module: Six-Item Short Form, and fifteen demographic and COVID-related income questions. Survey data (n = 1170) were analyzed using univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression. The prevalence of food insecurity was 26%. The adjusted odds of food insecurity were higher among respondents with a disability, from a rural area, and living with dependents. Increasing age, a university education, and income above $80,000/year were protective against food insecurity. Food insecurity more than doubled with a loss of household income above 25% (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 2.02; 95% CI: 1.11, 3.71; p = 0.022), and the odds further increased with loss of income above 75% (AOR: 7.14; 95% CI: 2.01, 24.83; p = 0.002). Our results suggest that the prevalence of food insecurity may have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among economically vulnerable households and people who lost income. Policies that support disadvantaged households and ensure adequate employment opportunities are important to support Australians throughout and post the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and Socio-Demographic Predictors of Food Insecurity in Australia during the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2020

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“…Many scholars, including Bakalis et al [ 12 ], Berkowitz et al [ 151 ], Gundersen and Ziliak [ 152 ], and Garcia et al [ 153 ], associate undernourishment with adverse health outcomes, including chronic conditions, mental health challenges, and increased risk of mortality. Niles et al [ 154 ] found that lower economic access to food forced many food-insecure households to disrupt eating, cut meals, eat less to stretch their food, or even go hungry. This link between the cost of a diet and food security status has an important impact on individual health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of COVID-19 on Trade and Economic Aspects of Food Security: Evidence from 45 Developing Countries

Erokhin

Tianming

2020

IJERPH

208

154

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The stability of food supply chains is crucial to the food security of people around the world. Since the beginning of 2020, this stability has been undergoing one of the most vigorous pressure tests ever due to the COVID-19 outbreak. From a mere health issue, the pandemic has turned into an economic threat to food security globally in the forms of lockdowns, economic decline, food trade restrictions, and rising food inflation. It is safe to assume that the novel health crisis has badly struck the least developed and developing economies, where people are particularly vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition. However, due to the recency of the COVID-19 problem, the impacts of macroeconomic fluctuations on food insecurity have remained scantily explored. In this study, the authors attempted to bridge this gap by revealing interactions between the food security status of people and the dynamics of COVID-19 cases, food trade, food inflation, and currency volatilities. The study was performed in the cases of 45 developing economies distributed to three groups by the level of income. The consecutive application of the autoregressive distributed lag method, Yamamoto’s causality test, and variance decomposition analysis allowed the authors to find the food insecurity effects of COVID-19 to be more perceptible in upper-middle-income economies than in the least developed countries. In the latter, food security risks attributed to the emergence of the health crisis were mainly related to economic access to adequate food supply (food inflation), whereas in higher-income developing economies, availability-sided food security risks (food trade restrictions and currency depreciation) were more prevalent. The approach presented in this paper contributes to the establishment of a methodology framework that may equip decision-makers with up-to-date estimations of health crisis effects on economic parameters of food availability and access to staples in food-insecure communities.

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“…[ 36 ]. Niles et al [ 37 ] further stressed that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affects all the four dimensions of food security, defined by the United Nations [ 38 ], namely availability, accessibility, utilization and stability. The changing consumer behavior linked to the panic buying and stockpiling incidents are already affecting the food availability in the short term, but in the long term other challenges in terms of food import–export, etc.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For poor people specifically, the increased food costs and closure of informal food markets may impact their food utilization in terms of reduced diet quality and nutrition intake. Lastly, the stability of food supply is also threatened by COVID-19 due to varied reasons, as already discussed [ 36 , 37 ].…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Lockdown, Food Systems and Urban–Rural Partnership: Case of Nagpur, India

Sukhwani

Deshkar

Shaw

2020

IJERPH

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The globally fast-spreading novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is now testing the abilities of all countries to manage its widespread implications on public health. To effectively contain its impacts, a nation-wide temporary lockdown was enforced in India. The resultant panic buying and stockpiling incidents together with spread of misinformation created a sense of food insecurity at local level. This paper discusses a specific case of Nagpur from the worst affected Maharashtra state of India, wherein the urban–rural food supply chains were reportedly disrupted. Based on formal interviews with local government officials, a month-long timeline of COVID-19 outbreak in Nagpur was studied along with the consequent government initiatives for maintaining public health and food supply. While the city residents were confined to their homes, this study then assessed their perceived food security at household level, along with their “Immediate Concerns” and “Key Information Sources”. Through online surveys at two different time intervals, the concerns of “Food and Grocery” were found to be rising, and “Government Apps and Websites” were identified as the most reliable source of information. Based on the research findings, the authors further suggest specific policy recommendations for addressing the immediate and long-term concerns related to food systems in Nagpur.

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The Early Food Insecurity Impacts of COVID-19

Cited by 122 publications

References 27 publications

Prevalence and Socio-Demographic Predictors of Food Insecurity in Australia during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Prevalence and Socio-Demographic Predictors of Food Insecurity in Australia during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Impacts of COVID-19 on Trade and Economic Aspects of Food Security: Evidence from 45 Developing Countries

COVID-19 Lockdown, Food Systems and Urban–Rural Partnership: Case of Nagpur, India

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