Food insecurity in urban and rural areas of Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food insecurity (FI) among families living in rural and urban areas of Brazil.

METHODS

Cross-sectional and descriptive study based on the analysis of two nationally representative surveys conducted using probabilistic sampling by clusters in urban and rural areas of Brazil (2020 and 2022). FI was measured using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. The households were classified as food secure, mild FI, or moderate/severe FI. Prevalence and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) and analyses were performed in Stata 16 considering the respective sample weights (svy). Variations between the two surveys were analyzed by urban and rural area, and associations with gender and race/skin color.

RESULTS

The majority of households were located in urban areas (2020: 85.6% [n = 1,662]; 2022: 85.5% [n = 10,365]) compared to rural areas (2020: 14.5% [n = 518]; 2022: 85.5% [n = 2,382]). with regard to the characteristics of the household reference person, schooling level, being a formal worker and the per capita family income were higher among families from urban areas. Between 2020 and 2022, the proportion of severe levels of FI increased significantly more in households from rural areas. Despite the higher FI in rural areas, a variation of +54% was noted in urban areas, where the prevalence of moderate/severe FI increased from 19.4% (2020) to approximately 30% (2022). There were greater proportions of FI in households headed by men in urban areas (+75.1%) and mixed race/black people (+55.9%), while households headed by white people saw an improvement in FS.

CONCLUSION

The FI increased unequally between the rural and urban areas of Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this study reinforce the need to plan equitable public policies that debate the different vulnerability profiles aggravated by disparities as a way of guaranteeing food and nutritional security in post pandemic in Brazil.