As the pandemic started spreading to sub-Saharan Africa, one concern has been that of its possible impacts on food security, as the crisis has the potential to exacerbate an already fragile food security environment. The health implications, movement restrictions, food supply disruptions, and other shocks brought on by the pandemic may inflict increasing food security concerns across the region. Data from a series of high-frequency phone surveys (HFPS) allows for the analysis of food security challenges in the midst of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) environment.

The analysis from the HFPS shows that over 105 million adults are affected by moderate or severe food insecurity across Uganda, Nigeria, Malawi, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso following the onset of the Coronavirus (COVID) pandemic, estimated using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), the official methodology for measuring sustainable development goals (SDG) Indicator 2.1.2. In what follows, changes in food security from pre-COVID periods and the prevalence of food insecurity are explored, as well as the mechanisms behind food insecurity in the post-pandemic world.