Future of Food: Journal on Food

Social assistance and food security during covid-19 pandemic lock-down: insights from Nigeria

Rachael Ayo-Lawal
National Centre for Technology Management
O.E. Ilevbare
K.O. Omotoso
E.A. Omimakinde
O. Ukwuoma

Nigeria, a fast-growing country has been food insecure prior to Covid-19 pandemic. Local agricultural production cannot satisfy the food and nutrition needs of its ever-growing population. This state was aggravated by the covid-19 pandemic lockdown, which was adopted by the Government to stem the spread of the virus. To cushion the effects of the lockdown, social assistance of diverse forms, from varying sources were supplied. This study assesses the effect of the lockdown order on household food security level and what coping strategies were adopted. Also, it examined the kinds of social assistance received and how such mitigated food insecurity status in households that benefitted. We used a secondary dataset from the Nigeria COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey. The data was collected by the National Bureau of Statistics in March, June, and July targeting periods before, during, and when the lockdown was gradually eased respectively. Our results revealed that majority of households experienced different forms of shock during the lockdown, most notably increase in food prices, and disruption of farm activities. Furthermore, only few households received social assistance majorly from state governments and religious bodies, such assistance had a positive effect on household food security during the lockdown period.

Keywords : Covid 19 pandemic, social assistance, household food insecurity, food security, Nigeria .

Myanmar High School Students’ Perceptions of College and International Readiness in Western Society

Mark Speckien
Louisiana Tech University
Mark Speckien
Louisiana Tech University
International students are more likely to experience mental health issues and increased stress. Mental health is often surrounded by negative societal stigmas that act as barriers to seeking support and tend to lead to greater mental health concerns. International students tend to seek socioemotional support from other international student peers rather than seeking out counseling services. However, this study shows that LGBTQIA+ international students were less likely to seek socioemotional support from other international student peers due to fear of their sexual orientation being discovered and their families finding out about their identity. This study examines how LGBTQIA+ international students talk about their experiences on and off campus in relations to their socioemotional well-being. Specifically, this study sought to better understand the complexities of LGBTQIA+ students’ identities, and the challenges they faced in terms of their socioemotional well-being. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Keywords : international students, socioemotional well-being, mental health, identity development, intersectionality, LGBTQIA