Gendered Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Behaviors in North Africa: Cases of Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Tarek Ben Hassen,Hajer Debbabi,Hanen Ben Ismail,Islam Mohamed Kamel,Mohammad S Allahyari,Hamid El Bilali,Khaled Sassi

doi:10.3390/ijerph19042192

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic-related measures in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region have resulted in many lifestyle modifications, including changes in diet and food buying patterns among adults. However, the pandemic has impacted women and men differently and exacerbated existing socio-economic and gender inequalities. Indeed, numerous studies conducted worldwide have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic had a disproportionately negative impact on women compared to males. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the effects of COVID-19 on women’s food behaviors in three countries of the North Africa sub-region, namely, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. The study was based on an online poll conducted by SurveyMonkey from 15 September to 5 November 2020, with 995 participants. The outcomes of the research found that when compared to men, (1) women tend to consume more food out of fear, anxiety, or boredom; (2) women prefer to eat more unhealthy food; (3) women tend to stockpile a greater amount of food; and (4) women tend to modify their shopping habits more often. The findings should inform gender-sensitive strategies and policies to address the negative impacts of the pandemic and foster transition towards healthier diets and resilient food systems during the recovery period.

Highlights

The entire food supply chain has been disrupted by several preventive restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as lockdowns, remote work, social distancing, etc., exposing its vulnerabilities to shocks and crises [1–5]
North Africa (NENA) region have resulted in many lifestyle modifications, including changes in diet and food buying patterns among adults [13,37–39]
The survey results reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced diets and food procurement, preparation, and usage in the three countries evaluated

Summary

Introduction

The entire food supply chain has been disrupted by several preventive restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as lockdowns, remote work, social distancing, etc., exposing its vulnerabilities to shocks and crises [1–5]. Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has affected people’s lives and habits. Some of these behavioral and attitudinal shifts impacted food shopping [6,7], diet [8,9], and food safety attitudes [10], as well as food waste [11–15]. The pandemic has amplified pre-existing economic weaknesses and brought new challenges by lowering incomes, as many people lost their jobs, and were faced with rising food prices and restricted food accessibility, which increased the challenge of achieving the Sustainable

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Conclusion