RESEARCH BRIEFS
Impact of COVID-19 on Food Security Among Somali Migrants and Refugees in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario: Narratives from a Photovoice Study
This research brief presents findings from a qualitative study conducted through the Photovoice methodology with Somali migrants in Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada. The study uncovers the multi-dimensional impacts of food insecurity, particularly in relation to culturally appropriate food access, the disproportionate care burdens on women, and the rising costs of basic necessities during the pandemic.
The Food Security of Venezuelan Migrant and Refugee Families with Children and Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ecuador
This research brief examines the structural challenges faced by Venezuelan migrant families with children and adolescents in accessing food in Quito, Ecuador. Our survey of 788 migrant and refugee families found that the prevalence of informal employment, the unequal distribution of household chores between genders, the breakdown of community and family support networks, as well as the lack of access…
Uncovering International Migration and Remittance Patterns in Southern Africa During COVID-19: Compelling Evidence from Cape Town, South Africa
The research brief examines the remitting patterns of African migrants in South Africa and shows that the pandemic and post-pandemic precarity of African migrants impacted their remitting behaviour. The brief is based on research from surveys and in-depth interviews conducted in 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa, focused on African migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers from Zimbabwe, Somalia and DRC….
Experiencing the Pandemic as a Refugee in Canada: The Intersectionality of Immobility, Gender and Food Insecurity
This research brief presents survey and interview data which was collected in the Kitchener- Waterloo (K-W) area in Ontario in 2022. It aims to depict the experience of refugees in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, with reference to their household food security and how gender and COVID-19 reproduced the structural challenges faced during resettlement in Canada. Drawing on the notion…
COVID-19 and Food Security in Urban China: Wuhan and Nanjing Compared
To contain the spread of COVID-19, governments around the world have adopted various regulatory measures, many of which have drastically and often unintentionally interrupted food supply chains and reshaped the food environment in cities (Aday and Aday 2020, Carducci et al 2021, Crush and Si, 2020, Swinnen and McDermott, 2020). The measures taken by the Chinese government were especially interventionist…
COVID-19 and Grassroots Community Organizing in Wuhan, China
As the epicentre of COVID-19 outbreak in China, Wuhan implemented some of the most stringent quarantine measures yet seen globally. Between January 23 and April 8, the city of 11 million people was in lockdown and all those who had not already left its confines for the annual Spring Festival (about 9 million people) were quarantined within the city (Ma…
From Wet Markets to Online Purchase: Food Shopping Patterns During COVID-19 in Wuhan and Nanjing, China
Wet markets have been the backbone of urban food provisioning in Chinese cities for several decades now (Si et al 2016, Zhang and Pan 2013, Zhong et al 2018, Zhong et al 2020). The role of wet markets as the primary source of food in cities may be shifting, however, as the COVID-19 pandemic draws food purchase away from wet…
Food Security Challenges in Chinese Cities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Globally, one of the major consequences of public health responses to the spread of COVID-19 is seen as an increase in food insecurity as agriculture and food supply chains are interrupted, food outlets are shuttered, household income to spend on food declines, and people are partially or completely quarantined at home (CFS 2020, Clapp 2020, Crush and Si 2020, WFP…
Mobility Controls and Urban Food Policy Responses to COVID-19 in China
At latest count (June 20, 2020), there were over 9 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide and over 450,000 deaths. While there has been an explosion of biomedical research on the pandemic, detailed empirical research investigating the impact of COVID-19 on food security is scarcer (Crush and Si 2000). This project is therefore examining the impacts on household food security…
COVID-19 Containment and Food Security in the Global South
Governments in the Global South have responded to the looming threat of COVID-19 with a range of containment, economic, and public health strategies. The Oxford Coronavirus Government Tracker (OxCGRT) identifies 18 separate government measures, and classifies eight of them as “containment and closure” strategies. We have added another eight common measures observed in the South to the OxCGRT list. As…