Abstract
Policies centered to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic have created recessionary economic impacts. Adverse income shocks have caused malnutrition and food insecurity and have increased the need for food assistance. The present study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food insecurity and investigates the determinants of food security and coping strategies in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Data were collected through the internet and received responses from 370 respondents. The household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) model was applied to examine food insecurity, and a logit regression model was used to analyze its determining factors. The results illustrate that food insecurity substantially increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Households’ demographics and socioeconomic factors have influence on food insecurity. Households with a large family size and people in quarantine found more food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, while financial assistance played a role in a decline in food insecurity. Households handle the negative income shocks by eating less preferred food and getting support from government and charity organizations. It is suggested that stakeholders and responsible institutes provide financial assistance to support low-income families in order to enhance food security. Furthermore, policymakers should strengthen social safety nets and aid programs such as the Ehsas income program in the province of the country.
Highlights
The population of Pakistan is facing high levels of malnutrition and food insecurity [1]
It was revealed that the households were highly concerned about the infectious disease, and almost 5.1% of the households reported that their family members were infected with the COVID-19 pandemic, while 1.1% reported that their family members had died due to this disease
The results revealed that severe hunger level increased among 44.2% of the households from 17.4% pre-COVID-19 to 61.6% to during COVID-19, while the moderate hunger level increased among 18.74% households due to the COVID-19 pandemic from pre 23.09% to 41.83% during COVID-19
Summary
The population of Pakistan is facing high levels of malnutrition and food insecurity [1]. One-fourth of the population is exposed to malnutrition and food insecurity, meaning they cannot fulfill basic intake requirements [2,3]. The food-insecure population has experienced adverse effects due to COVID-19 [5,6]. Disruptions in food systems lead to price increases; on the other hand, income loss results in a decline in the purchasing power, exaggerating the food and nutrition insecurity [5,6,7,8]. It is shown that people experiencing food insecurity have been affected more strongly by the far-reaching impact of COVID-19 in 2020, exposing multiple fragilities and vulnerabilities in the contemporary food system [9]
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