Food Consumption and Food Security during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Addis AbabaJEL codes

International humanitarian organizations have expressed substantial concern about the potential for increases in food insecurity resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. We use a unique panel survey of a representative sample households in Addis Ababa to study both food security and food consumption during the pandemic. In contrast to some other countries in the region, Ethiopia never went into a full lockdown severely restricting movement. Despite subjective income measures suggesting a large proportion of households have been exposed to job loss or reduced incomes, we find that relative to a survey conducted in August and September of 2019, food consumption and household dietary diversity are largely unchanged or slightly increased by August 2020. We find some changes in the composition of food consumption, but they are not related to shocks found in previous phone surveys conducted with the same households. The results therefore suggest the types of subjective questions about income typically being asked in COVID-19 phone surveys may not appropriately reflect the magnitude of such shocks. They also imply, at least indirectly, that in the aggregate food value chains have been resilient to the shock associated with the pandemic.

Automated summary

Despite subjective income measures indicating job loss or reduced incomes for many households, a study in Addis Ababa found that food consumption and household dietary diversity remained largely unchanged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there were some changes in food consumption patterns, they were not related to shocks previously identified in surveys. This suggests that subjective income questions in COVID-19 phone surveys may not accurately reflect the true impact of the pandemic on food security.