COVID-19 nationwide lockdown and disruptions in the food environment in Zimbabwe

Abstract

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

Consumer experiences of food environments during the Covid-19 pandemic: Global insights from a rapid online survey of individuals from 119 countries

“…Of these, nearly half were conducted in the United States of America (USA) (n = 4) ( Adams et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Hammons and Robart, 2021 ; Silva et al, 2021 ), followed by two in Latin America (Brazil, Mexico) ( Gonzalez-Alejo et al, 2020 ; Horta et al, 2021 ), and one each in Africa (Zimbabe) ( Murendo et al, 2021 ), Asia (China) ( Ahmed et al, 2020 ), and the Pacific Islands (Samoa) ( Emiliata et al, 2020 ). The majority of studies reported changes in external food environments, including the natural, built ( Ahmed et al, 2020 ; FAO, 2020 ) and digital ( Horta et al, 2021 ), home food environments ( Adams et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Hammons and Robart, 2021 ), and household and individual-level food acquisition practices ( Emiliata et al, 2020 ; Murendo et al, 2021 ; Silva et al, 2021 ) since the onset of the pandemic, with differences and similarities observed between level of country development, stringency of pandemic-related mitigation strategies, and socio-economic status. The one multi-country study that has been conducted interviewed urban food system stakeholders such as provincial government officers ( FAO, 2020 ).…”

Food security and nutrition governance post-Covid-19 in Africa

“…The analysis of extant literature has revealed that post-COVID-19, Zimbabwe will still be food insecure in Africa due to the declining agricultural sector associated with failing industries and markets, low economic growth, unemployment, minimal stakeholder support institutions that support food nutrition in schools in Zimbabwe bear the brunt of COVID-19 pandemic severely outbreak which hurts nutrition of learners. This is confirmed by Murendo, Manyanga, Mapfungautsi and Dube (2021), who reiterate that many children in Zimbabwe rely on school nutrition programs. As a country experiencing low economic growth, Zimbabwe finances its food security programs through diaspora remittances.…”

“…As a country experiencing low economic growth, Zimbabwe finances its food security programs through diaspora remittances. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, some families could not become food secure as their breadwinners have been either retrenched or stopped operating their businesses, especially in South Africa, where most diaspora remittances emanate (Murendo et al 2021). The loss in income created a food ensure situation which later impacted on nutrition governance of many families in Zimbabwe.…”

“…While the latest report from World Bank (2022) shows that in Africa, Zimbabwe remains one of the most food insecure countries, the government has done little to try and address the food insecurity situation, which has already impacted the nutrition status of many struggling citizens. As argued by Murendo et al (2021), the failure of the government to adequately consult stakeholders to deal with the hunger situation in many Zimbabwean provinces shows the state of unpreparedness on the government's part to address food insecurity in the country post-COVID-19. This gap points to the need for the NGO sector to increase its role in complementing government weaknesses in bolstering food security resiliency and nutrition governance.…”

The Clean Your Plate Campaign: Resisting Table Food Waste in an Unstable World

“…Many scholars have studied the impact of the pandemic on food waste. The pandemic has led to stockpiling and panic buying [115,116]. Non-perishable food items were prioritized by stockpilers [110].…”