Did Covid-19 Market Disruptions Disrupt Food Security? Evidence from Households in Rural Liberia and Malawi

31 Pages Posted: 14 Oct 2020 Last revised: 27 Oct 2024

See all articles by Shilpa Aggarwal

Shilpa Aggarwal

Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad

Dahyeon Jeong

University of California, Santa Cruz - Department of Economics

Naresh Kumar

UC Santa Cruz

David Sungho Park

University of California, Santa Cruz

Jonathan Robinson

University of California, Santa Cruz

Alan Spearot

University of California, Santa Cruz

Date Written: October 2020

Abstract

We quantify the effect of market disruptions due to COVID-19 on the lives of households in rural areas of Liberia and Malawi, utilizing panel data from phone surveys that were implemented as part of a randomized cash transfer experiment. The surveys began collection several months before the pandemic and have continued throughout it. The household survey included a consistent set of internationally accepted and validated questions on food security (the household dietary diversity score, the household hunger scale, and the food consumption score). In both countries, market activity was severely disrupted and we observe large declines in income among market vendors, but we find no evidence of declines in food security for households in the short run. Even though we observe no adverse effects of the lockdowns on food security among the control group, cash transfers improved dietary quality and quantity over the low levels observed at baseline.

Suggested Citation

Aggarwal, Shilpa and Jeong, Dahyeon and Kumar, Naresh and Park, David Sungho and Robinson, Jonathan and Spearot, Alan, Did Covid-19 Market Disruptions Disrupt Food Security? Evidence from Households in Rural Liberia and Malawi (October 2020). NBER Working Paper No. w27932, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3709622

Shilpa Aggarwal (Contact Author)

Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad ( email )

Hyderabad, Gachibowli 500 019
India

Dahyeon Jeong

University of California, Santa Cruz - Department of Economics ( email )

1156 High Street
Santa Cruz, CA
United States

Naresh Kumar

UC Santa Cruz ( email )

Santa Cruz, CA 95064
United States

David Sungho Park

University of California, Santa Cruz

1156 High St
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
United States

Jonathan Robinson

University of California, Santa Cruz ( email )

1156 High St
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
United States

Alan Spearot

University of California, Santa Cruz ( email )

1156 High St
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
United States

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