Research Article
The Impact of Corona Virus (COVID-19) on Food Security and Associated Factors Among Households in Yeki District, Sheka Zone, Southwest Ethiopia
Issue:
Volume 6, Issue 2, June 2025
Pages:
18-34
Received:
22 March 2025
Accepted:
23 April 2025
Published:
3 June 2025
DOI:
10.11648/j.advances.20250602.11
Downloads:
Views:
Abstract: Background: Pandemic crisis could quickly put a strain on the food supply chains. Food insecurity means not always having reliable access to enough safe, nutritious food the kind that fits people’s dietary needs and personal preferences to live a healthy, active life. Therefore, this study was carried out in the Yeki District to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on household food security at the household level. Method: For this research, data was collected using a multistage sampling method; where Sheka zone was selected purposively, and the Yeki District was selected to address food insecurity status. A self-administered questionnaire was developed to gather relevant information. A binary logit model was employed to identify the prevalence of food insecurity, the impact of COVID-19 and related factors for food security. Model adequacy checking was done for the reliability and validity of the fitted model. Result: The study was included a total of 424 respondents, the main respondent for the study was the household head, 68.6% were male and 31.4% were having a female head of the household. About 75.2% (319) of the household heads exerted farming as the main source of household income and 9.4% (40) households have got their income mainly from trade and the rest 12.81% from animal rearing; 8.0% from other sources. From the respondents, 64.15% (272) were exposed to food insecurity and 35.85% (152) households were maintained their food need in the study area. Among variables, educational level, source of household income, social distancing, increased in food price, extra expense, labor shortage and current saving found statistically significant effects for predicting the household food insecurity status in the study area. However, results from the study showed that closure of rural market, family size, government feedback, lockdown, exposure for flooding and lack in farm inputs were insignificant effects on household food insecurity. Social distancing and restriction on socio-economic interaction were 2.460 times more likely to be exposed for food insecurity than the previous normal situation or before the occurrence of COVID-19 (AOR= 2.460: 95% CI= 1.30 – 3.50). During the last four weeks, a household who have had labor shortage was 2.746 times more likely to be exposed to food insecurity (AOR= 2.746: 95% CI= 2.046 – 3.684). Based on the results obtained from the study a lot should be done to prevent food insecurity by doing promoting income generation and stalk holders should be scaling up the effectiveness of the national COVID-19 response.
Abstract: Background: Pandemic crisis could quickly put a strain on the food supply chains. Food insecurity means not always having reliable access to enough safe, nutritious food the kind that fits people’s dietary needs and personal preferences to live a healthy, active life. Therefore, this study was carried out in the Yeki District to investigate the imp...
Show More
,
Muluye Asnakew Alemneh
