Social assistance and food security during covid-19 pandemic lock-down: insights from Nigeria

Nigeria, a fast-growing country, has been food insecure prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Local agricultural production cannot satisfy it's ever-growing population's food and nutrition needs. This state was aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown which the government adopted to stem the spread of the virus. To cushion the effects of the lockdown, social assistance of diverse forms from varying sources were supplied. This study assesses the effect of the lockdown order on household food security level, and the coping strategies that were adopted. Also, it examines the kinds of social assistance received and how such mitigated food insecurity status among households that benefitted. The study uses used a secondary dataset from the Nigeria COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey. The National Bureau of Statistics collected the data in March, June, and July, targeting periods before, during, and when the lockdown was gradually eased, respectively. The results revealed that most households experienced different forms of shock during the lockdown, notably increases in food prices and disruption of farm activities. Furthermore, only a few households received social assistance, main from state governments and religious bodies. The assistance received had a positive effect on household food security during the lockdown period.