UNICEF, 4 - 8th Rangoon Close Cantonments, Accra, Ghana.
Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Accra, Ghana.
BMC Public Health. 2024 May 8;24(1):1268. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18745-x.
In Africa, approx. 675 million people were at risk of food insecurity. COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have exacerbated this situation, by damaging populations' access to and affordability of foods. This study is aimed at estimating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on availability and prices of essential food commodities at 20 large markets in Ghana.
Data on food availability and food retail prices collected through weekly market-level data during the period from July 2017 to September 2020 were used in this study. We performed interrupted time-series analyses and estimated the percentage increases between the observed and predicted food prices by food group and by region to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food prices.
As a result, the impact of COVID-19 on food availability was limited. However, the results of interrupted time-series analyses indicate a significant increase in overall mean food prices in Greater Accra, Eastern and Upper East regions. It was also found that mean price of starchy roots, tubers and plantains significantly increased across regions.
The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food availability and prices was significant but varied by food type and regions in Ghana. Continuous monitoring and responses are critical to maintain food availability and affordability.
在非洲，约有 6.75 亿人面临粮食不安全风险。COVID-19 大流行可能通过损害人们获得和负担得起食物的机会，使这种情况恶化。本研究旨在估计 COVID-19 大流行对加纳 20 个大型市场基本食品商品供应和价格的影响。
本研究使用了 2017 年 7 月至 2020 年 9 月期间通过每周市场层面数据收集的关于食品供应和食品零售价格的数据。我们进行了中断时间序列分析，并根据食品组和地区估计观察到的和预测的食品价格之间的百分比增长，以评估 COVID-19 大流行对食品价格的影响。
结果表明，COVID-19 对食品供应的影响有限。然而，中断时间序列分析的结果表明，大阿克拉、东部和上东部地区的总体平均食品价格显著上涨。还发现，淀粉类根茎、块茎和大蕉的平均价格在各地区均显著上涨。
COVID-19 大流行对加纳食品供应和价格的影响是显著的，但因食品类型和地区而异。持续监测和应对措施对于维持食品供应和可负担性至关重要。
