The impact of Covid-19 on food security: a case study of Uganda high frequency phone survey

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a health and human crisis threatening the food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world. Hundreds of millions of people were already suffering from hunger and malnutrition before the virus hit and, unless immediate action is taken, there is a likelihood of a global food emergency. Therefore the main objective this study was to estimate the model that shows the impact of COVID-19 on food security in Uganda. A multinomial logistic regression model was fitted using the Uganda high frequency phone survey data on COVID-19 from World Bank website. The results indicated that source of food, worry for the lack of food for the next day, ability to skip meals, ever suffered from hunger, gender, type of residence and region of residence significantly influence food security during COVID-19. From the policy stand point of view, policies aimed at improving food security specifically in regions identified by the study that were food insecure may presumably have a tangible impact on food security in Uganda