SECURING RURAL FOOD SECURITY DURING COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT PROGRAM

Abstract

Food security has been the most debatable topic for the last few decades. It plays a very effective role in the economic condition of a country. Food insecurity is the cause of many problems in the health and medical field. Social support plays a very important role in decreasing malnutrition if it is provided according to the needs of people, especially during the pandemic of Covid-19. The initiative was taken by the Pakistani government in the form of the ‘Ehsaas Emergency Program’ which plays a vital role in decreasing food insecurity and provides brief information about the relationship between food security and social support. To find the relationship between food security and social support and support given by the government we collected data from 246 rural households in districts Jhang and Multan. We collected data using the Dietary Intake Assessment questionnaire, USDA questionnaire, and MSPS scale. We also use a self-generated questionnaire to investigate the role of the ‘Ehsaas emergency program’ on food security and the financial needs of people. We used Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to find the role of social support in the sustainability of food security. The results of propensity score matching show that there is a strong relationship between social support and food security. Education, family size, age of household head, income, gender, and distance from cities has also had impacts on food security. It is concluded that social support programs are necessary for sustainable food security.