How 51% of Nigerians reduced food consumption over impact of COVID-19

About 51 per cent of Nigerian household reduced  their food consumption in order to survive during the COVID 19 pandemic, a COVID-19 impact survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown.

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Nigeria COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey was carried out in collaboration with the survey unit of the World Bank.

Results of the survey showed that 97 per cent of respondents were aware of the preventative measures like handwashing, avoiding gatherings (90%) and social distancing (89%).

Households were said to have begun to adapt to the shocks caused by the pandemic with 51 per cent reducing their food consumption and 29 per cent drawing down their savings.

“A high rate of households reported income loss since mid-March. 79 per cent of households reported that their total income decreased. Income from all sources was affected by the pandemic and reported to have decreased since mid-March,” the report read.

“However, the rate was highest for income from non-farm family business (85%) compared to household farming, livestock or fishing (73%) and wage employment (58%).”

The survey stated that 2 per cent of respondents who were working before the outbreak were “no longer working for reasons related to COVID-19”.

The poorest households were said to have reported the highest share (45 per cent) of people who stopped working while 39 per cent of the wealthiest households reported the same.

“Workers in all sectors were affected by the pandemic, but primarily those working in commerce, services and agriculture. 14per cent of respondents were working in the commerce sector before the outbreak but have since stopped working due to COVID-19,” the report read.

“This is equivalent to 60 per cent of all those working in the sector prior to the pandemic. In all sectors, respondents that stopped working reported that COVID-19 related economic impacts were the primary cause.”

As a result of the lockdown and suspension of educational activities, 38 per cent of households with children who attended school before the closure was reported not to have engaged in any learning/education activities.

The survey was carried out between April 20 and May 11, 2020.