Navigating Food Insecurity During the Pandemic: The Role of Social Networks Among Pregnant Women in Nepal

Food insecurity is defined as a state in which an individual “lacks regular access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet the needs for normal growth and development and to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle” (FAO, 2020). An individual may become food insecure due to a combination of factors, including lack of resources to obtain food and/or unavailability of food are some. Not all people are equally vulnerable to food insecurity at all times. Pregnancy is a particularly vulnerable period as the nutritional requirements of the pregnant woman are higher than normal. The lived experience of food insecurity can be influenced by a number of socio-economic factors. The impact of social networks on health outcomes has been the subject of extensive social and medical research in recent decades.

Food insecurity increased rapidly during Covid-19, and the pandemic seriously interrupted severely disrupted social support networks. Nepal is no exception when it comes to consequences of Covid-19 on food insecurity and social networks. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development in Nepal reported that 58% of the households did not have food stocks for more than a month and three out of ten households lost their income during the worst crisis of Covid-19. While the general importance of social networks for health is well established, few studies have examined the impact of social networks on food insecurity in LMICS.

No studies have explored the role of social networks in the lived experience of food insecurity among pregnant women. However, there are good reasons to believe that the general factors such as social support and access to material resources and goods may also be important in this context. This project explored the lived experiences of food insecurity among pregnant women in Nepal from a qualitative social network perspective in in the Chitwan district including 10 Tharu women who were pregnant during the Covid-19 pandemic.