IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i6p3235-d767583.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Rural Food Security in High Income Countries: A Systematic Literature Review

Author

Listed:
  • Katherine Kent

    (School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown 2560, Australia
    School of Health Sciences, University Tasmania Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia)

  • Laura Alston

    (Faculty of Health Deakin Rural Health, Deakin University, Warrnambool 3280, Australia
    Institute for Health Transformation, The Global Obesity Centre Deakin University, Geelong 3220, Australia)

  • Sandra Murray

    (School of Health Sciences, University Tasmania Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia)

  • Bonnie Honeychurch

    (School of Health Sciences, University Tasmania Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia)

  • Denis Visentin

    (School of Health Sciences, University Tasmania Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia)

Abstract

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, rural-dwelling people in high-income countries were known to have greater challenges accessing healthy food than their urban counterparts. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted food supplies across the world, and public health restrictions have changed the way people shop for food, potentially exacerbating food insecurity. This systematic literature review aimed to synthesize the available evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aspects of food insecurity in rural populations residing in high-income countries. Five electronic databases were searched, identifying 22 articles that assessed food insecurity prevalence or data on food availability, access, utilization and the stability of the food supply in rural populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ten studies examined the prevalence of food insecurity in rural populations, with the reported prevalence ranging from 15% to 95%. Where rural/urban comparisons were presented, most studies ( n = 5; 71%) reported that food insecurity was significantly higher in rural regions. Five studies examined the availability of food and eight studies examined access to food, identifying that rural populations often had lower food availability and access to food during the pandemic. In contrast, two studies identified positive effects such as more gardening and increased online access to food. Rural populations experienced multiple changes to food utilization, such as reduced diet quality and food safety observed in eight studies, but this was not shown to be different from urban populations. Additionally, the food supply in rural regions was perceived to be affected in two studies. The results of this review may be used to inform region-specific mitigation strategies to decrease the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic and future global events on food security. However, the lack of consistency in study outcomes in research on rural populations limits the identification of priority areas for intervention at a global-scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine Kent & Laura Alston & Sandra Murray & Bonnie Honeychurch & Denis Visentin, 2022. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Rural Food Security in High Income Countries: A Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-29, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:6:p:3235-:d:767583
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/6/3235/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/6/3235/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lisa Mullins & Sylvain Charlebois & Erica Finch & Janet Music, 2021. "Home Food Gardening in Canada in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-12, March.
    2. Jill Whelan & Lynne Millar & Colin Bell & Cherie Russell & Felicity Grainger & Steven Allender & Penelope Love, 2018. "You Can’t Find Healthy Food in the Bush: Poor Accessibility, Availability and Adequacy of Food in Rural Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-15, October.
    3. Jill E. Hobbs, 2021. "Food supply chain resilience and the COVID‐19 pandemic: What have we learned?," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 69(2), pages 189-196, June.
    4. B. James Deaton & Brady J. Deaton, 2020. "Food security and Canada's agricultural system challenged by COVID‐19," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 68(2), pages 143-149, June.
    5. Makenzie L. Barr & Kendra OoNorasak & Kristin Hughes & Lauren Batey & Kaela Jackson & Haley Marshall & Tammy Stephenson, 2021. "Exploring Perceived Importance of a Novel Emergency Food Program during COVID-19 and Program Recipient Characteristics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-12, October.
    6. Fei Men & Valerie Tarasuk, 2021. "Food Insecurity amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Food Charity, Government Assistance, and Employment," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 47(2), pages 202-230, June.
    7. Valerie Mueller & Karen A. Grépin & Atonu Rabbani & Bianca Navia & Anne S. W. Ngunjiri & Nicole Wu, 2022. "Food insecurity and COVID‐19 risk in low‐ and middle‐income countries," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), pages 92-109, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Martina Zámková & Stanislav Rojík & Martin Prokop & Simona Činčalová & Radek Stolín, 2022. "Czech Consumers’ Preference for Organic Products in Online Grocery Stores during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Marius-Ionuț Gordan & Elena Peț & Gabriela Popescu & Ioan Brad & Anda Ioana Milin & Tabita Cornelia Adamov & Ramona Ciolac & Anka Roxana Pascariu & Tiberiu Iancu, 2022. "Factors Influencing the Accommodation Prices of Romanian Rural Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-22, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Janet Music & Sylvain Charlebois & Louise Spiteri & Shannon Farrell & Alysha Griffin, 2021. "Increases in Household Food Waste in Canada as a Result of COVID-19: An Exploratory Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-11, November.
    2. Ali, Imran & Arslan, Ahmad & Chowdhury, Maruf & Khan, Zaheer & Tarba, Shlomo Y., 2022. "Reimagining global food value chains through effective resilience to COVID-19 shocks and similar future events: A dynamic capability perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1-12.
    3. Music, Janet & Finch, Erica & Gone, Pallavi & Toze, Sandra & Charlebois, Sylvain & Mullins, Lisa, 2021. "Pandemic Victory Gardens: Potential for local land use policies," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    4. Abhijit Majumdar & Rohit Agrawal & Rakesh D. Raut & Balkrishna E. Narkhede, 2023. "Two years of COVID-19 pandemic: Understanding the role of knowledge-based supply chains towards resilience through bibliometric and network analyses," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 1105-1121, September.
    5. Pasura Aungkulanon & Walailak Atthirawong & Pongchanun Luangpaiboon & Wirachchaya Chanpuypetch, 2024. "Navigating Supply Chain Resilience: A Hybrid Approach to Agri-Food Supplier Selection," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-41, May.
    6. Gheorghe Cristian Popescu & Monica Popescu, 2022. "COVID-19 pandemic and agriculture in Romania: effects on agricultural systems, compliance with restrictions and relations with authorities," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(2), pages 557-567, April.
    7. Norbert Bajkó & Zsolt Fülöp & Kinga Nagyné Pércsi, 2022. "Changes in the Innovation- and Marketing-Habits of Family SMEs in the Foodstuffs Industry, Caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic in Hungary," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-17, March.
    8. Naimoli, Antonio, 2022. "Modelling the persistence of Covid-19 positivity rate in Italy," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PA).
    9. Penelope Love & Jillian Whelan & Colin Bell & Jane McCracken, 2019. "Measuring Rural Food Environments for Local Action in Australia: A Systematic Critical Synthesis Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-21, July.
    10. Margherita Bernabei & Silvia Colabianchi & Francesco Costantino, 2022. "Actions and Strategies for Coronavirus to Ensure Supply Chain Resilience: A Systemic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-19, October.
    11. Higgins, Christopher D. & Páez, Antonio & Kim, Gyoorie & Wang, Jue, 2021. "Changes in accessibility to emergency and community food services during COVID-19 and implications for low income populations in Hamilton, Ontario," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    12. Meuwissen, Miranda & Feindt, Peter & Slijper, Thomas & Spiegel, Alisa & Finger, Robert & de Mey, Yann & Paas, Wim & Termeer, Katrien & Poortvliet, P. Marijn & Peneva, Mariya & Urquhart, Julie & Vigani, 2021. "Impact of Covid-19 on farming systems in Europe through the lens of resilience thinking," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 191.
    13. B. James Deaton & Brady J. Deaton, 2021. "Food security and Canada's agricultural system challenged by COVID‐19: One year later," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 69(2), pages 161-166, June.
    14. Karzan Mahdi Ghafour & Abdulqadir Rahomee Ahmed Aljanabi, 2023. "The role of forecasting in preventing supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic: a distributor-retailer perspective," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 780-793, June.
    15. Emad B. Dawwas & Karen Dyson, 2021. "COVID-19 Changed Human-Nature Interactions across Green Space Types: Evidence of Change in Multiple Types of Activities from the West Bank, Palestine," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-21, December.
    16. Jaya Priyadarshini & Rajesh Kr Singh & Ruchi Mishra & Surajit Bag, 2022. "Investigating the interaction of factors for implementing additive manufacturing to build an antifragile supply chain: TISM-MICMAC approach," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 567-588, June.
    17. Ouoba, Youmanli & Sawadogo, Natéwindé, 2022. "Food security, poverty and household resilience to COVID-19 in Burkina Faso: Evidence from urban small traders’ households," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    18. Hai Li & Hui Liu, 2023. "Climate Change, Farm Irrigation Facilities, and Agriculture Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-19, February.
    19. Swanson, Katelin A. & Mandal, Bidisha, 2022. "The Impacts of COVID-19 on Employment in the Food Manufacturing Subsector," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322107, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Rudsari, Saba & Fuqua, Donovan & Pimentel, Victor & Brewer, Barry, 2023. "Resilience and Recovery: Understanding the Underlying Drivers of Long-term Instability in Food Supply Chains," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 54(2), July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:6:p:3235-:d:767583. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.