Hunger and Malnutrition in a COVID-19 Environment: What Are the Effects Amidst Rising Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Bernadette Dia Kamgnia and Kan David N’Dri ()
Additional contact information
Bernadette Dia Kamgnia: Cellule d’analyse des politiques économiques du CIRES (CAPEC), Abidjan 08 BP 1295, Côte d’Ivoire
Kan David N’Dri: Business and Social Science School, International University of Grand-Bassam, Grand-Bassam BP 564, Côte d’Ivoire

Economies, 2025, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-26

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic intensified existing structural challenges in Africa, including poverty, weak healthcare systems, and fragile agricultural supply chains. Consequently, examining its effects remains a critical area of study. This research investigates the effect of food prices on the prevalence of malnutrition in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings indicate a significant long-term relationship between the number of COVID-19 cases, food prices, and the prevalence of undernourishment. Specifically, increases in food prices are associated with a rise in undernourishment rates over the long term. These results are corroborated by estimations using Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS). To mitigate malnutrition in the face of potential future health shocks, governments could create and operationalize food price stabilization funds to cushion against sharp increases in food prices. These funds can be used to subsidize key staples during periods of price volatility, ensuring affordability for vulnerable populations.

Keywords: health crises; malnutrition; food prices; panel ARDL; C32; C54; I15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E F I J O Q (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/13/6/173/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/13/6/173/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:13:y:2025:i:6:p:173-:d:1679247

Access Statistics for this article

Economies is currently edited by Ms. Hongyan Zhang

More articles in Economies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().