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. 2024 Jan 9;10(1):7.
doi: 10.1186/s40795-023-00815-9.

Prevalence of food insecurity amid COVID-19 lockdowns and sociodemographic indicators of household vulnerability in Harar and Kersa, Ethiopia

Jonathan A Muir #  1 , Merga Dheresa #  2 , Zachary J Madewell  3 , Tamirat Getachew  2 , Gamachis Daraje  2 , Gezahegn Mengesha  2 , Cynthia G Whitney  4 , Nega Assefa #  2 , Solveig A Cunningham #  4
Affiliations

Prevalence of food insecurity amid COVID-19 lockdowns and sociodemographic indicators of household vulnerability in Harar and Kersa, Ethiopia

Jonathan A Muir et al. BMC Nutr. .

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with widespread social disruptions, as governments implemented lockdowns to quell disease spread. To advance knowledge of consequences for households in resource-limited countries, we examine food insecurity during the pandemic period.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study and used logistic regression to examine factors associated with food insecurity. Data were collected between August and September of 2021 through a Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) using a survey instrument focused on knowledge regarding the spread of COVID-19; food availability; COVID-19 related shocks/coping; under-five child healthcare services; and healthcare services for pregnant women. The study is set in two communities in Eastern Ethiopia, one rural (Kersa) and one urban (Harar), and included a random sample of 880 households.

Results: Roughly 16% of households reported not having enough food to eat during the pandemic, an increase of 6% since before the pandemic. After adjusting for other variables, households were more likely to report food insecurity if they were living in an urban area, were a larger household, had a family member lose employment, reported an increase in food prices, or were food insecure before the pandemic. Households were less likely to report food insecurity if they were wealthier or had higher household income.

Conclusions: After taking individual and household level sociodemographic characteristics into consideration, households in urban areas were at higher risk for food insecurity. These findings suggest a need for expanding food assistance programs to more urban areas to help mitigate the impact of lockdowns on more vulnerable households.

Keywords: East Africa; Hardship; Resilience; SARS-CoV-2; Vulnerability.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The Harar and Kersa Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS) within East Hararghe, Oromia, Ethiopia. The smaller map panels on the right identify the location of the HDSS catchment areas within the East Haraghe Zone of the Oromia region in Ethiopia. The HDSS catchment in Haramaya (depicted in green) was in development during the data collection period, so households from this catchment were not included in this study
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Adjusted associations with food insecurity among households living in Harar and Kersa, Ethiopia (n = 870). The forest plot presents Adjusted Odds Ratios with 95% confidence intervals from an adjusted logistic regression model. Education and Occupation had 9 missing values. We assessed model fit with comparison of Akaike Information Criterion and Bayesian Information Criterion scores—both scores were the smallest for the fully adjusted model, indicating that this model had superior fit compared to simpler or pathway-specific models
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Adjusted associations with food insecurity among previously food secure households living in Harar and Kersa, Ethiopia (n = 870). The forest plot presents Adjusted Odds Ratios with 95% confidence intervals from an adjusted logistic regression model. Education and Occupation had 9 missing values
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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