Abstract
Alongside the dramatic impact on health systems, eating, shopping, and other food-related habits may have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. This paper analyses the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food shopping habits and food-related activities of a diverse sample of 340 adult consumers in Morocco. The study is based on an online survey conducted in Morocco from September 15 to November 5, 2020, utilizing a standardized questionnaire delivered in French and Arabic via Survey Monkey. The findings show that consumers' diet, shopping behavior, and food interactions have changed significantly. Indeed, the survey outcomes indicated (i) an increase in the consumption of local items owing to food safety concerns; (ii) an increase in online grocery shopping; (iii) a rise in panic buying and food hoarding; and (iv) an increase in culinary capabilities. The findings are expected to help guide Morocco's current emergency measures as well as long-term food-related policies.
Highlights
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), discovered in Wuhan (China) toward the end of 2019 [1], is one of the most critical issues confronting humanity [2]
The findings indicate that 54.41% of the respondents are men, 41.76% are married with children, and 39.41% earn the same revenue as most other households in Morocco
This study examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food behavior in Morocco based on a cross-sectional survey involving 340 participants
Summary
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), discovered in Wuhan (China) toward the end of 2019 [1], is one of the most critical issues confronting humanity [2]. Since Moroccan government tries to have a balance between recovering the economy and saving lives by applying local measures instead of general ones, such as the lockdown applied in Casablanca during the first weeks of October 2020 (Table 1) These measures helped mitigate the public health threat, but many economic sectors, including the “informal sector,” were severely affected [34, 41]. The scholarly literature on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food systems and consumption patterns has been so far mostly geographically biased; it focuses on Western and Southern Europe, North America, and China [30], while developing countries in general and those of the NENA region in particular, such as Morocco, have been overlooked.
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