Impact of COVID-19 on diets of poor consumers in Africa: Evidence from the slums of Nairobi, Kenya.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted food
systems worldwide, and this is likely to have
negative implications for food and nutrition
security. The vulnerable poor, especially those in
the urban areas, are likely to feel a bigger impact.
More than half of Africa’s urban population lives
in slums. Little is known about the impact of the
current pandemic on their consumption behavior
and diets. This study analyzes effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic on consumption of nutritious
foods (including fresh fruits and vegetables and
animal source foods) and diets of poor slumdwellers
and middle-income non-slum dwellers in
Nairobi, Kenya, using primary data collected from
2,465 households between April and May 2020.
Food (in)security assessment and consumption
behavior questions are asked to capture before
and during pandemic using recall. In addition,
household dietary diversity scores are calculated
based on 7-day food consumption recalls. Both
descriptive and econometric regression analyses
are conducted. Households in the slums are
affected more than the non-slum middle-income
households. More than 40% of slum households
do not have jobs, their average monthly household
income is very low, at USD78. About 90% of
households in the slums reported dire food
insecurity situations. They were not able to eat
the kind of foods they preferred, they ate a limited
variety of foods, a smaller meal than they felt they
needed and fewer number of meals in a day. Slum
households have a lower dietary diversity score
(4 out of 9) compared to the non-slum (5 out of 9).
In addition, slum dwellers show larger negative
effects on consumption of nutritious foods
especially fresh fruit and vegetables and animal
source foods. Several factors associated with
quality food consumption during the pandemic
period are highlighted. Mitigation measures should
pay close attention to slums as they are deeply
impacted by the pandemic. In addition, policy
design and implementation should be inclusive of
the vulnerable poor consumers in the slums.