IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON FOOD INSECURITY AND HOUSEHOLD VULNERABILITY: A CASE STUDY OF PAKISTAN

Abstract

There is an unaddressed need in quantitative research to assess the effects of pandemics on household food insecurity in Pakistan. Hence, this study aims to explore the indefinite side of Pakistan’s economy by analyzing the COVID-19's impact on household food insecurity and vulnerability. Study employs Oaxaca blinder decomposition using HIES 2018-19 and COVID 19 Special Survey 2020 datasets, to draw a pre and a post-pandemic comparison. In addition, it also calculates expected poverty vulnerability (VEP) in households using Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and using total 206,712 households’ data of age, gender, marital status, employment, education, foreign remittances, total income, benefits, province and region, it was revealed that household food insecurity has increased after the pandemic. According to the Household food insecurity accesses scale score, household’s food insecurity intensified by 7.3 units during the 2020 lockdown. On the other hand, Oaxaca decomposition estimates revealed that the coefficient effects have played the major role in worsening of the food insecurity conditions of the households