Food Access And Insecurity During Covid-19 Pandemic - Evidence from South Africa

The following are the findings from South Africa related to the incidence of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic: • Majority of the respondents (57.6%) went to the grocery store “once” a week, 20% went more than once a week and only 4.7% went more than three times a week. • A vast majority of respondents (72.9%) had never made a purchase from online grocery stores. • 51.4% of respondents stated they “never” purchased food from restaurants and 31% stated once a week. • These results indicate that majority of the individuals preferred to stockpile on groceries, rather than frequenting the grocery store often. • Respondents rated that the government’s response to making food accessible was “mostly fair” (29.4%) followed closely by “excellent” (20.8%) and then poor (18.4%). • Respondents rated the food industry’s (supermarkets, grocery stores, restaurants) response to making food accessible as “good” (38%), “fair” (28.2%) and “excellent” (19.6%). • These results indicate that individuals found the food industry’s response to be more efficient than that of the governments. • 75.3% percent of respondents stated they did not need to skip meals, due to a lack of finances. • However, 51.8% of respondents had lost part or their full source of income, with a further 65.9% fearing that they may lose part or their full source of income. These results indicate that a large majority of individuals were worried about their future finances and buying power. • 54.1% of respondents stated that they increased the frequency in which they washed their hands. • 47.8% of respondents reported that they more frequently cleaned and sanitized high risk surfaces, such as counter tops, doorknobs etc. These results indicate that individuals were more aware of maintaining good hygiene practices and made the necessary adaptations.