Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on food insecurity in Indonesian households
International Journal of Social Economics
ISSN: 0306-8293
Article publication date: 12 July 2023
Issue publication date: 23 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected access to adequate and nutritious food, resulting in hunger, malnutrition and increased food insecurity. The purpose of this study was to identify the households in Indonesia that were most likely to experience the pandemic's effects.
Design/methodology/approach
Using raw data from nationwide Indonesian household socioeconomic and expenditure surveys (SUSENAS 2020 and SUSENAS 2021), food insecurity was measured using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). A multinomial logistic regression model was used to analyze the data.
Findings
The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe food insecurity increased from 20.61% to 21.67% and from 1.28% to 1.37%, respectively, between 2020 (the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2021 (the period during which the infection rapidly spread nationwide). The estimation results of the multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that urban households, which may have had more difficulties with income generation and access to food due to behavioral constraints, were more likely to be affected by the pandemic. Additionally, economically vulnerable poor households, households with low levels of education or unemployed heads were more likely to be affected by the pandemic.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first study to access the impact of economic downturn and social restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic on household food insecurity in Indonesia, using the nationwide household survey data.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The first author would like to thank the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) under the Ministry of Finance, Republic of Indonesia for its scholarship funding.
Citation
Amrullah, E.R., Tokuda, H., Rusyiana, A. and Ishida, A. (2023), "Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on food insecurity in Indonesian households", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 50 No. 12, pp. 1790-1803. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-03-2023-0186
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited