In the first quarter of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic rampant food insecurity has been recorded in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Rivers according to state statistics agency, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Food insecurity is a situation when available food is not enough to take care of people because of lack of funds, social unrest and any other factor that prevents food being available.
The report is from the second quarter Labour survey, shows the impact of the COVID_19 induced pandemic on these states. The statistics report states that in Rivers and FCT Abuja where 79% of households and 72% of households respectively reported having to skip meals since the start of the pandemic.
Many households are withdrawing their savings and also borrowing to meet their basic needs. The report further explained that many households will become more economically vulnerable because of the present financial realities of reduced or negative income. This will erode financial investments and other future plans.
NBS states that could be benchmarked against pre-crisis data from the 2018/19 Nigerian Living Standards Survey.
The statistics agency adds that the report provides crucial information on households’ response to COVID-19 in the key states of Kano, Lagos, Rivers Abuja. The bureau further explained that the second quarter 2020 Labour Force Survey had been collected by the NBS between the 17th of June and 8th of July 2020.