ISSN 2360-7971
Abstract: Sub-Saharan Africa bears the greatest burden of food insecurity in the world. The emergence of COVID-19 and its related restrictions pose further threats to food insecurity. Therefore, a systematic review was conducted to assess the rate and available evidence on factors associated with household food insecurity in SSA during the pandemic. Three bibliographic databases and two search engines were searched on 30 October 2023 covering the period between March 2020 and October 2022. Peer-reviewed papers reporting the prevalence and/or factors of household food insecurity were eligible for inclusion. The STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) tool was used to assess the quality of articles included in this report. Twenty-nine publications from twelve countries were included in this review. Food insecurity experience and household food insecurity access scales were the most used instruments for assessing household food insecurity. Household food insecurity during the pandemic ranged from 11.2% to 98.8% in SSA, with an average of 53.7%. COVID-19 restrictions were reported in six papers to be associated with food insecurity. Existing factors, such as lower education, older ages of household heads, and low household income, persisted during the pandemic. Also, increased food prices and the lack of alternative livelihood activities for households increased their vulnerability to food insecurity during the pandemic. COVID-19 pandemic and its related restrictions worsened the existing factors associated with household food security. Even though the review found no major changes in the prevalence of food insecurity in SSA, the unfolding effects of COVID-19 could make things worse if no steps are taken to provide social protection and agricultural support services to households.
Keywords: food insecurity, hunger, households, COVID-19, and sub-Saharan