COVID-19 shock, social protection and food insecurity in Nigeria: A difference-in-difference approach

This paper assesses the effects of social protection interventions in mitigating the COVID-19 shocks on household food insecurity in Nigeria. It employs the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study for Nigeria, focusing on the dataset collected before the COVID-19 shock and during a postCOVID-19 phone survey. A difference-in-difference approach was used to explore the heterogeneous effects of social protection on all the individual measures of food insecurity across the gender of the recipient, household location and wealth status. The results show that food insecurity was greater in all households after the pandemic shock. Social protection measures were effective in mitigating the effects of the pandemic, and these effects were greater for cash assistance. The mitigating effect was greater among female-headed households, poor households, those in rural areas and those involved in farming. The findings of this study highlight the need for a well-organised social protection programme. In particular, policies aimed at promoting cash assistance among female-headed households, poor individuals, those in rural areas and those involved in farming can have important implications for improving the food security of households in Nigeria.