HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY AND COPING STRATEGIES DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

Food security is one of the crucial areas of global concerns, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic, a number of countries, including Malaysia, started to impose a generalised quarantine or lockdown as a measure to curb the spread of the disease. The key aspect of this measure is the restricted movement of people, goods and transportation. As a result, food supply and consequently, food security became embroiled in the mix. Questions such as will we be able to get the food supply during the pandemic, will there be enough food for everyone, and how will we cope in ensuring household food security were asked. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore the issues of household food security and the short-term coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically focusing on the views of respondents from Sarawak, Malaysia. Findings and discussion in this paper are based on data that was collected online from 235 respondents from all over Sarawak, Malaysia. It is found that availability of food is not really an issue but the challenges of food security during the COVID-19 pandemic are more focused on access to their preferred food and the choices of food that are available. A number of coping strategies has also been identified, such as getting food from alternative sources like online shopping, home vegetable gardens and preservation and storing of surplus food to make them last longer. These measures are not considered as severe.