The importance of assets for coping with COVID-19 and other shocks

Abstract

Rural households in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico experienced a series of shocks beginning in 2020, including the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment, loss of income, an abrupt increase in food prices, hurricanes, a public safety crisis and political instability. Through household surveys in 10 territories in those countries, along with interviews and focus groups, we studied the association between the context created by those shocks, food security and households' coping strategies. The main finding is that the relative level of wealth, measured by households’ asset endowment, is the factor that most influences both food insecurity and the strategies households choose for coping with shocks.