Assessment of food insecurity and copping stratrgies of household during COVID-19 pandemic in Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The novel COVID-19 pandemic is a global health challenge of significant importance. Emergent action (lockdown) taken by the Federal government to curb its spread has contributed to food insecurity among households. A cross-sectional assessment of food insecurity and copping strategies of 200 households in Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State was carried out using multi-stage sampling technique to select household heads in the study area. Data was collected using semi-structure, interviewer-administer questionnaires in alliance with Household Food Access Insecurity Scale (HFAIS) to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics and food copping strategies during lockdown. Data was analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20 while the food security was categorized by number of coping strategies used. The result shows that 56.8 % were married, 54.2 % were from monogamous home, 59.2 % attended secondary school, 79.1 % were between 1-5 in their households, 31.8 % earn less than N18000 monthly, 73.7 % do eats 23 times daily before the pandemic sets in and part of coping strategy adopted revealed that 55.2 % reduced their intake due to limited resources, 53.7 % rarely ate their preferred food, 64.7 % got their food either from friends and relatives and 91.1 % did not receive palliatives. Significant association was observed between income and copping strategies p<0.05 except buying food on credit and effect of palliatives. Family setting has significant relationship with copping strategies and significant association was observed between age and food consumption p<0.05. High level of food insecurity was observed in this study. Nutrition intervention through supplementary feeding program will go a long way if implemented properly in this kind of outbreak.