COVID-19, food insecurity and dietary diversity of households: Survey evidence from Nigeria

Measuring Global Dietary Diversity by Considering Nutritional Functional Dissimilarity and Dietary Guidelines

Dietary diversity is essential for healthy diets and crucial for academic research and policymaking. However, existing measures often lack conceptual clarity, which limits their interpretability. This study proposes a new framework that classifies dietary diversity indices along two dimensions: whether they account for nutritional functional dissimilarity and whether they incorporate dietary guidelines. Based on this framework, four index types are defined. Using per capita consumption data for 14 food categories across countries from 1981 to 2022, eight indices were applied to assess global dietary diversity and its variation across 13 dietary patterns. The results show a general upward trend in global dietary diversity and dietary quality, with notable regional disparities influenced by dietary patterns, resources, culture, and socioeconomic factors. This study also finds non-linear links between dietary diversity, income, and urbanization, consistent with Bennett's Law and empirical evidence. These findings underscore the utility of the proposed indices in capturing complex dietary dynamics. This study recommends context-specific use of indices, policy attention in developing countries to maintain diversity during dietary transitions, and the development of more inclusive dietary guidelines that emphasize not only variety but also balance and nutritional function.

Determinants of household's dietary diversity during the COVID-19 pandemic: A community-based study in rural Southwestern Bangladesh

BACKGROUND

Inadequate dietary diversity is a significant challenge in public health for low-and middle-income countries, including rural communities in Bangladesh. These issues have intensified and become more tragic during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study evaluated the factors associated with household dietary diversity in rural Southwestern Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study used a structured questionnaire to collect data from 310 respondents using face-to-face interviews. Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and sociodemographic characteristics were calculated from the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project (FANTA) guidelines and related studies. A multinomial regression model was performed to identify factors associated with HDDS during the COVID-19 outbreak.

RESULT

The HDDS status of rural Southwestern households decreased (60.3%) during the initial COVID-19 pandemic. Socioeconomic factors including gender, level of education, occupation, household monthly income, and family size of the household head were significantly associated with dietary diversity. Additionally, income condition (RRR:5.46, 95% CI:2.73-7.47 and RRR:4.85, 95% CI:2.48-7.24), and dietary diversity knowledge of the household head (RRR:5.46, 95% CI:2.73-7.47, and RRR:4.85, 95% CI:2.48-7.24) were significantly associated with low and moderate HDDS during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONCLUSION

This study found that households become more vulnerable to inadequate dietary diversity due to poor socioeconomic status during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the findings, public health workers should ensure adequate food access and proper food distribution among rural households and communities in this crisis to mitigate these negative consequences.

Application of geospatial technology and decision model in the development of improved food security index

Most developing countries are currently experiencing a severe food security crisis. A good policy to mitigate food insecurity is dependent on accurate assessment. Therefore, an improved assessment of food situation is important in implementing food security measures. Existing food security assessments are limited in integrating localized variables, often needing more context-specific information. This study proposes a new food security index (Hybrid Food Security Index-HFSI), the Nigerian state was used as a case study. Data used include; food consumption, poverty levels, variability in food prices, inflation, climate variability data and the status of road infrastructure. The study also integrated a hybrid Multi-criteria Criteria Decision Model (MCDM) and geo-spatial technology. The geo-spatial presentation of food security across Nigeria shows that food security is generally better in the Southern part of the country than in the Northern region. Broadly, indicators' performance primarily improves from the country's North to South, which suggests that Northern states tend to be less food secure than Southern states. According to the Fuzzy-DEMATEL-ANP model, the Poverty level indicator significantly impacts the food security situation in all focused states, as it received the highest priority weight of 0.1487. The study recommends intensifying poverty alleviation programs to improve food security, and women's development programs should be prioritized. This study provides policymakers and stakeholders with evidence-based assessments to address food security challenges in Nigeria.

Evaluating the feasibility and attitudes towards SARS-CoV-2 self-testing in a rural population in Zimbabwe: a cross-sectional survey

OBJECTIVES

The widespread adoption of self-testing for SARS-CoV-2 has proven effective in curbing the virus' spread, particularly in Western countries. However, significant knowledge gaps persist regarding the feasibility, acceptance and factors influencing the uptake of self-testing in low-resource areas, notably rural Africa. Our aim was to assess the willingness and capability of rural Zimbabwean participants to self-diagnose COVID-19 using rapid lateral flow tests (LFTs) and adhere to post-positive test guidelines. Additionally, we aimed to identify barriers to self-testing uptake and reasons for non-compliance with follow-up actions.

DESIGN AND SETTING

We conducted a cross-sectional survey in Shamva District, Zimbabwe.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 120 villagers aged 18 years and above participated. We employed a questionnaire to gather data on participants' attitudes towards self-testing for SARS-CoV-2 using LFTs, along with their knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding COVID-19. Primary outcomes included the likelihood of self-testing, the ability and accuracy of self-testing, adherence to post-test guidelines and socio-demographic factors influencing these responses.

RESULTS

Among the 120 participants, 108 (90%) expressed willingness to use LFTs for self-testing. The subset unwilling to self-test belonged to a religious sect historically opposed to Western medicine. All self-tests yielded valid results, as confirmed by the appearance of control lines on the LFT. Participants demonstrated the ability to interpret their results accurately without assistance and expressed willingness to adhere to post-test guidelines. Questionnaire responses indicated a preference for self-testing due to its ease, lack of pain, convenience and confidentiality. Moreover, participants exhibited a high level of knowledge about COVID-19.

CONCLUSION

This study underscores the acceptability and feasibility of SARS-CoV-2 LFT self-testing in rural settings, suggesting its potential as an additional public health measure for epidemics and pandemics in low-resource areas.

Increased difficulty accessing food and income change during the COVID-19 pandemic among youth living in the eThekwini district, South Africa

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the effect of income change on difficulty accessing food since the COVID-19 pandemic for South African youth and evaluate whether this effect was modified by receiving social grants.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional, online survey was conducted between December 2021 and May 2022. Primary outcome was increased difficulty accessing food since the COVID-19 pandemic. Income change was categorised as 'Decreased a lot', 'Decreased slightly' and 'Unchanged or increased'. Multivariable logistic regressions were used, with an interaction term between social grant receipt and income change.

SETTING

eThekwini district, South Africa.

PARTICIPANTS

Youth aged 16-24 years.

RESULTS

Among 1,620 participants, median age was 22 years (IQR 19-24); 861 (53 %) were women; 476 (29 %) reported increased difficulty accessing food; 297 (18 %) reported that income decreased a lot, of whom 149 (50 %) did not receive social grants. Experiencing a large income decrease was highly associated with increased difficulty accessing food during the COVID-19 pandemic (adjusted OR [aOR] 3·63, 95 % CI 2·70, 4·88). The aOR for the effect of a large income decrease on difficulty accessing food, compared to no income change, were 1·49 (95 % CI 0·98, 2·28) among participants receiving social grants, and 6·63 (95 % CI 4·39, 9·99) among participants not receiving social grants.

CONCLUSIONS

While social grant support made a great difference in lowering the effect of income decrease on difficulty accessing food, it was insufficient to fully protect youth from those difficulties. In post-pandemic recovery efforts, there is a critical need to support youth through economic empowerment programming and food schemes.

Food insecurity among low-income households in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

With the rapid urbanization in developing countries, poverty and food insecurity are becoming increasing prevalent, posing a major challenge to urban areas. The COVID-19 pandemic induced job losses and reduced income combined with inflation have further exacerbated the household food insecurity situation, particularly in cities of low-income countries. Our study aims to assess the extent of food insecurity and its determinants among low-income household in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study among a sample of 578 households in Addis Ababa. We estimated the household food insecurity status using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). An ordinal logistic regression model was used to assess the relationship between household food insecurity status and the socioeconomic and demographic covariates. The STATA 14 software package was used for data analysis. We found that household food insecurity was prevalent among low-income households in Addis Ababa, with a prevalence rate of 92.4 % (95 % CI: 90.2-94.6 %). Of these households, 33.6 % (95 % CI: 29.7-37.4 %) were severely food insecure. To cope with the food shortage, households were forced to reduce their food quantity and quality. We also found that respondent's education, engagement in income generating activities, and household wealth were independently associated with household food insecurity. We conclude that although supporting people living below the poverty line (pro-poor) remains the top priority for social protection programs, adapting the program to accommodate the working poor (informal sector employees and casual workers) is crucial, especially during shocks.

The evolution of household forgone essential care and its determinants during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria: A longitudinal analysis

Apart from the morbidity and mortality, the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased the predisposition of households in Nigeria to forgone care, thereby increasing their vulnerability to adverse health consequences. Since there is no previous study in Nigeria on the evolution of pandemic-related forgone care and its drivers, our study assess the evolution of the problem using descriptive and nationally representative panel data analyses. We found about a 30% prevalence of forgone care during the lockdown, which declined progressively afterwards, dropping by 69.50 percentage points between April 2020 and April 2022. This decline produced a surge in households needing care from about 35.00% in the early pandemic to greater than 50%, beginning in early 2021. The forgone care was primarily due to financial hindrances, movement restrictions, and supply-side disruptions. Household socioeconomic factors such as income loss had 2.74 [95%CI: 1.45-5.17] times higher odds of forgone care, job loss, food insecurity, and poverty were 87% (OR: 1.87 [95%CI: 1.25-2.79]), 60% (OR: 1.60 [95%CI: 1.12-2.31]) and 76% (OR: 1.76 [95%CI: 1.12-2.75]) more likely to predispose households to forgone care, respectively. Also, geographical location, such as the South-South zone, induced 1.98 [95%CI: 1.09-3.58] times higher odds of forgone care than North-Central. A married female household head increased the odds by 6.07 [95%CI: 1.72-21.47] times compared with an unmarried female head. However, having a married household head, social assistance, and North-East or North-West zone compared with North-Central increased the chance of accessing care by 69% (OR 0.31 [95%CI: 0.16-0.59]), 59%,(OR 0.41 [95%CI: 0.21-0.77]), 72% (OR 0.28 [95%CI: 0.15-0.53]) and 64% (OR 0.36 [95%CI: 0.20-0.65]), respectively. Non-communicable diseases, disability, old age, large household size and rural-urban location did not affect the forgone care. Our study highlights the need to strengthen Nigeria's health system, create policies to promote healthcare accessibility and prepare the country for future pandemic challenges.

Nurturing Food Security for All: Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 Social Protection Responses Among Vulnerable Population Groups in Nigeria

This study examines the impact of government and humanitarian interventions during COVID-19 on food security among vulnerable populations in Nigeria. Data from a survey conducted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in July 2020 was used, with a sample of 4,833 households drawn from various vulnerable groups such as refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Using matching methods, the results indicate that targeted support initiatives helped alleviate immediate food insecurity challenges during the pandemic. This underscores the significance of focused interventions in mitigating the adverse impact of economic shocks on food security for vulnerable populations.

COVID-19 induced shocks and its implications for human capital development

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 has delivered an enormous shock to the global economy, triggering the deepest recession in eight decades, almost three times as deep as the 2009 global recession. Of all the nations in Africa, Nigeria remains one of the nations with a huge and significant impact on the human capital.

METHODS

Hence, here we employed the recent nationally representative data from Nigeria - the COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey 2020-World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study Integrated Agriculture Survey (LSMS-ISA), a harmonized dataset to explore how the COVID-19 induced shocks affected households' human capital development (using health and education outcomes).

RESULTS

The results indicate that the COVID-19 induced shocks impact on both health and education in Nigeria. Interestingly, access to social safety nets had a positive association with the health and education outcomes. The study concludes that households' access to social safety nets, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic aids in the development of the nation's human capital. Therefore, effectively enhancing household's resilience and strengthening human capital development require positive and considerable innovation, maybe over a period of years. Hence, just an access to the national social safety nets programs or social programs may not be as effective as expected. Therefore, it may not be as successful as intended to just have access to national social safety net programs or social programs that contribute or transfer negligible amounts to the vulnerable recipients over short time frames.

Fruit and Vegetable Intake of Females Before, During, and After Introduction of 3 Bundled Food System Interventions in Urban Vietnam and Nigeria

Background

Low fruit and vegetable (FV) intake in low- and middle-income countries, which is associated with noncommunicable diseases and micronutrient deficiencies, requires food system interventions addressing FV accessibility, affordability, and acceptability. Periodic FV intake monitoring during interventions informs progress toward achieving increased intakes and contributes to understanding the effectiveness of these interventions.

Objectives

This study evaluates the trend in FV intake before, during, and after implementation of a set of nutrition-sensitive food system interventions addressing accessibility, affordability, and acceptability to increase FV consumption over a 1-y period in Vietnamese and Nigerian low-income urban and periurban females.

Methods

We used the Diet Quality Questionnaire to assess FV food group consumption among 600 Vietnamese (Hanoi) and 610 Nigerian (Ibadan) females before, during, and after the interventions (Vietnam: July 2020-September 2021; Nigeria: November 2020-December 2021). A FV score was compared between exposure groups with (mixed) count modeling. The trend in consumption of individual FV groups was analyzed with mixed logistic regression.

Results

The FV score was stable over time, and a small increase was observed after the intervention period especially in Nigeria and in urban Vietnam. A decrease in the total score was observed in periurban Vietnam. Fluctuations were detected in the probability of consumption of individual FV groups over time especially within the fruit groups, probably due to seasonal availability. The degree of exposure could not explain differences in FV intake.

Conclusions

We found a marginal increase in the proportion of females consuming FV during the interventions in both countries. The FV score appeared to be a simple, quick, and easy-to-use indicator for monitoring diversity, variety, and consumption.

The Health and Nutritional Status of Children (10-18 years) Belonging to Food Insecure Households: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2012-2019)

To research the health and nutritional status in Korean children and adolescents belonging to food insecure households (FI), the preregistered secondary data of 18 items from the Food Security Evaluation in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES; 2012-2019) were used. Comparative analyses (food security group [FS], (n = 3150) vs. FI, (n = 405) of household characteristics, health status (anthropometrics, clinics, mentality), and nutritional status (nutrient intake, diet-quality, and pattern) were performed in children (boys: 1871, girls: 1684) aged 10-18 years. The FI comprised higher proportions of participants from low-income families, basic livelihood-security recipients, and vulnerability (characteristics: female household heads, aged ≥50, single, unemployed, with low education and unmet healthcare needs). Compared to FS, boys had higher abdominal obesity and alcohol use, whereas girls had lower high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc) and mental vulnerability (self-perceived obesity despite FS-similar anthropometry) in FI. Inadequate protein intake among boys and girls, and high carbohydrate and inadequate fat intake among girls were especially found in the FI status. From the results of a nutrition quality test, Vit-A in boys, and protein, niacin, and iron intakes in girls were insufficient, respectively. Health-nutritional policies to improve children's lifestyles should reinforce FI-based intake of deficient nutrients.

Food Insecurity: Is Leagility a Potential Remedy?

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Ukraine-Russian conflict, both significant geo-political and socio-economic shocks to the global food system and food insecurity has risen across the world. One potential remedy to reduce the level of food insecurity is to move from a lean just-in-time food system to one where there is more resilience through greater agility both in routine supply operations and also in the event of an emergency situation. The aim of this critical perspectives paper was to firstly reflect on the concepts of lean, agility, and 'leagility'. Then, this study considered the ability of individual organisations and the whole food system to be resilient, adaptive, enable the elimination of waste, reduce inefficiency, and assure the consistent delivery to market requirements in terms of both volume, safety, and quality. Promoting the concept of leagility together with advocating resilient, sustainable practices that embed buffer and adaptive capacity, this paper positions that increasing digitalisation and improving business continuity planning can ensure effective operationalisation of supply chains under both normal and crisis situations, ultimately reducing the risk of food insecurity at personal, household, and community levels.

Drivers of food security in West Africa: Insight from heterogeneous panel data analysis on income-level classification

This paper investigates the factors driving food security in West African countries. Specifically, it examines the impact of natural resource rents, institutional quality, and climate change on food security while controlling for industrialization and economic growth. Our research is motivated by the urgent need for swift policy action to address the escalating food crisis in the region and prevent any potential catastrophic consequences. Second-generation econometric techniques are utilized for accurate and reliable outcomes based on yearly datasets from West African countries from 2000 to 2020, and the countries are sub-grouped into low-income and lower-middle-income. The findings unveil the panel as heterogeneous and cross-sectionally based, and all the study variables are first differenced stationary and co-integrated in the long run. Hence, the Augmented Mean Group and Common Correlated Effects Mean Group estimators are utilized to explore the relationships between the variables, and the findings reveal that natural resource rents, climate change, and industrialization are detrimental to food security across the sub-groups. However, the outcomes affirm institutional quality and economic growth as beneficial drivers of food security across the sub-groups. Therefore, this study recommends that authorities of both low-income and lower-middle-income countries make substantial investments in sustainable natural resource utilization and also work towards enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of their institutions, as well as investing in environmental research to explore climate change mitigation possibilities that could enhance food security in West Africa.

COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Food Security and Caused Psychosocial Stress in Selected States of Nigeria

The COVID-19 disease has infected many countries, causing generalized impacts on different income categories. We carried out a survey among households (n = 412) representing different income groups in Nigeria. We used validated food insecurity experience and socio-psychologic tools. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The earning capacities of the respondents ranged from 145 USD/month for low-income earners to 1945 USD/month for high-income earners. A total of 173 households (42%) ran out of food during the COVID-19 pandemic. All categories of households experienced increasing dependency on the general public and a perception of increasing insecurity, with the high-income earners experiencing the greatest shift. In addition, increasing levels of anger and irritation were experienced among all categories. Of the socio-demographic variables, only gender, educational level of the household head, work hours per day, and family income based on society class were associated (p < 0.05) with food security and hunger due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although psychological stress was observed to be greater in the low-income earning group, household heads with medium and high family income were more likely to have satisfactory experiences regarding food security and hunger. It is recommended that socio-economic groups should be mapped and support systems should target each group to provide the needed support in terms of health, social, economic, and mental wellness.