EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN ON FOOD SECURITY AMONG URBAN HOUSEHOLDS IN JOS, PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

Food security is one of the targets of Sustainable Development Goals where it focuses explicitly on food by seeking to end hunger, achieve food security, improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. However, the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown distorted the food system and affected households' capacity to meet its nutritional needs. This study evaluated the effect of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on households in Jos Metropolis, Plateau State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 265 households. Data was collected using well-structured questionnaire. The analytical techniques were; Descriptive statistics, FDT Food security index and Z-Statistics Test. The findings indicated that 53% of the household heads were female while 47% were male. The mean age of the respondents was 34 years; the mean Household size was 4 persons. Most of the household heads (68%) were not members of cooperative societies. The result indicated that cereals, legumes/grains, oils/fat, roots and tubers, sugar and honey and meats were the most common food consumed by the households daily before and after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Result of food security status indicated that households consumed an average daily calorie intake of 5860.52 which is higher than the estimate of 1707.88 calorie consumed by the food insecure households. Covid-19 pandemic had effect (p JEL Classifications: Q01, Q18, Keywords: Effect, Covid-19 lockdown, Food Security, Urban Households, Plateau State.
INTRODUCTION The concern for food security is a cornerstone in the development process for every country to weaken the vicious cycle of poverty among the teeming populace of developed and [...]