This study assessed the COVID-19 related disruptions on the food environment in Zimbabwe. Information on disruptions in personal life, changes in food habits, changes at food acquisition points and nutrition information required during the lockdown were collected from 243 adult respondents using online survey. The pandemic disrupted work, social events, food behaviors and habits. Food consumption behaviours changed during the COVID-19 lockdown included panic buying (68%) and stockpiling (60%). The changes in food related habits were associated with a reduction in eating out at restaurants (89%) and ordering fast foods (71%). Temperature checks, physical distancing, hand sanitization and restricted access to food stores when not wearing a mask were the changes made at the point of food acquisition and adhered to by respondents. Respondents required nutrition advice on what type of food to eat (58%), food availability in area (52%), and ways to reduce food wastages (49%). Important policy implications emanate from this study. Retailers should ensure adequate supplies of affordable food commodities. The public and private sector should provide information on nutritious foods, ways to reduce food wastages, and food safety during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. There is scope of using social media as one of the platforms to disseminate such information. Innovative interventions such as online purchasing and home delivery of food supplies should be piloted to reduce human physical contact. This requires
There is an emerging body of studies assessing the influence of resilience on household food security in developing countries. Yet no study has systematically analysed this theme in Zimbabwe, an area that we address. Data was collected from 331 randomly selected farm households in four districts of Zimbabwe. Factor analysis was used to compute resilience capacities. Poisson regression was used for model estimations. Assets, market diversity and social capital increased dietary diversity by 7.5%, 3.6% and 2.9% respectively. Interventions that enhance asset accumulation, for example incomegenerating activities, should be promoted. Promoting farmer groups and collective actions are important to strengthen social capital. Adaptive and absorptive capacity increases dietary diversity by 5.9% and 5.4% respectively. Household resilience is positively associated with dietary diversity. The public and private sectors and civil society need to promote interventions that build adaptive, absorptive, and overall resilience capacity of farming households to enhance food security.
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