Would the Food Insecure Raise their Hands? Applying the case of Egypt in the era of COVID-19

Food security can be considered an economic access challenge in Egypt, as poverty and food security are highly correlated. The spread of the novel coronavirus, with its economic drawback, is expected to jeopardise Egyptian food security by exacerbating existing challenges. Using the Economic Research Forum (ERF) COVID-19 Monitor data for Egypt (Wave 2), logit models are estimated to examine the determinants of food security in Egypt, during June 2021, post the spread of COVID-19. Two indicators are used to measure food security. First the households’ ability to obtain the usual amount of food, without reporting any change because of a decline in income or increase in prices. This is considered as economic access to food. The second measure considers food consumption; households are considered food secured if they do not have to reduce their usual number of meals/portions. The results show that females, low-educated, self-employed, those working in hard-hit sectors, those who lost their income and households with a high share of children under six years old are all more likely to be food insecure.