The Influence of Food Environments on Food Security Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Examination of Urban and Rural Difference in Kenya

Abstract

Hunger and food insecurity has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The types of food environments (e.g., natural/built) that people can access may improve household resilience to food-system shocks. This paper examines (1) urban and rural differences in the perceived influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural, livelihoods, food environment attributes, diets; and (2) whether access to different food environments was associated with food security. A two-part telephonic survey (COVID-19 Surveillance Community Action Network Food Systems Tool and Household Food Insecurity Access Scale) was conducted in Western Kenya (n = 173) and an informal settlement in Nairobi (n = 144) in January/February 2021. Limitations on the acquisition of farm inputs and movement restrictions had an adverse impact on agriculture and food sales. Urban residents reported a more significant impact on livelihoods (97% vs. 87%, p < 0.001), with day laborers being the most impacted. Rural respondents reported access to significantly more food environments and lower food insecurity. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that younger respondents, ≤1 income source, had more difficulty acquiring food, decreased access to cultivated environments, and increased access to informal markets were predictors for higher food insecurity. These data indicate that access to specific types of food environments may improve household resilience.

Weight Change Following Switch to Dolutegravir for HIV Treatment in Rural Kenya During Country Roll-Out

“…However, by including patients on ART for at least 1 year before DTG switch (median ART duration 6.25 years), the impact on our analysis should be minimal. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic may have worsened food insecurity, [36][37][38] further attenuating observed weight gain, although this would not invalidate our overall conclusions of low amounts of weight gain in the context of a high degree of food insecurity.…”

Ethnicity, social connectedness, and the rural-urban food continuum: Food security among urban informal settlement dwellers in Kenya

“…However, in another study, Onyango et al [ 24 ] also focused on the length of stay in the city, rural-urban links, and food transfers, which did not focus on the dietary diversity of households in Nairobi. Nonetheless, the results reported by Onyango et al [ 22 ] are further supported by Merchant et al [ 23 ], who found that urban households reported lower food security outcomes than rural households because of decreased access to the food production environment resulting from COVID-19 restrictions on movement and lockdowns.…”

“…Ericksen [ 25 ] also identifies other factors, such as access to government and non-government social support services, as food production and consumption determinants. Besides the rural-urban food continuum, employment, education, household income, and food prices also determine food security outcomes [ 23 , 24 ]. These studies highlight the importance of socioeconomic variables in determining food security.…”

“…Furthermore, following Ericksen's [ 25 ] conceptualization of determinants of food security outcome included households' access to government food transfer programs and NGO support as important determinants of food security in informal settlements. The study conceptualized that socioeconomic variables such as income and investment, employment, and age of respondents are important determinants of food security [ 23 , 24 ] (Merchant et al, 2022; Onyango et al, 2003). The study uses the dependency ratio as a proxy for the economic well-being of the household as it reflects economically productive members of the household [ 29 ] (Iram & Butt, 2004).…”

“…Studies that have focused on urban food security have either relied on cross-sectional data to disentangle the problem [ 13 , 14 ] (e.g., Gallaher et al, 2013; Soma et al, 2022) or not recognized the interplay of social or cultural connectedness and role of rural-urban food systems in explaining gaps in food security outcomes among urban populations living on informal settlements [ [19] , [20] , [21] ] (e.g., Korir et al, 2022; Kimani-Murage et al, 2014; Omondi et al, 2017). Furthermore, although studies several studies in Kenya have investigated the potential role of rural-urban food continuum in enhancing food security in urban areas [ [22] , [23] , [24] ] (Onyango et al, 2021; Merchant et al, 2022; Onyango et al, 2023), they overlook region of origin of urban populations and do not employ the decomposition analysis method to explore the differential impacts of rural-urban food continuum and social connectedness on urban food systems outcomes.…”