CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
According to current figures, there are nearly 925 million starving people on the planet.  Just under 180 million pre-school children are stunted, meaning they suffer from chronic malnutrition.Hunger is "a situation in which people do not get enough basic food to give them the energy and nutrients they need to live truly healthy lives" (Hunger Task Force, 2003). Hunger and food security are intertwined, but they are not the same thing. A lack of hunger does not mean food security, and households and individuals can go hungry to ensure longer-term food security, particularly during periods of stress.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Since late 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has spread quickly and widely across the world, posing serious threats to food security and nutrition. The unfolding crisis has had an effect on food systems1 and has placed people's access to food in jeopardy due to a variety of factors.We've seen not only a massive disruption of food supply chains as a result of the global health crises' lock-downs, but also a significant global economic recession. These crises have resulted in lower wages and higher food costs, putting food out of reach for many people and jeopardizing attempts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.The worst results, according to the World Health Organization, are yet to come (Ghebreyesus, 2020; Khorsandi, 2020). Most health experts believe the outbreak will continue to spread for at least another year or two (Scudellari, 2020).COVID-19 is a respiratory disease for which there is no indication that food is a transmission vector (ICMSF, 2020). However, the virus's proliferation and the steps taken to stop it have had far-reaching consequences for food security, agriculture, and food systems. Around the same time, malnutrition (including obesity) raises the risk of COVID-19 infection.President Muhammed Buhari declared a complete lockdown in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos State, and Ogun State on March 29, 2020, due to initial and continuing confusion about the existence of COVID-19's spread. Several state governments have also proclaimed absolute lockout, including Edo, Kano, Enugu, Bauchi, Kaduna, and Kwara.Though intended to stop the outbreak, the national lockout has had an economic impact, limiting credit access to farmers, limiting access to inputs for agriculture, limiting access to transportation facilities for transporting grain, and limiting food imports by border closures.The ban includes a social association, mobility, non-essential economic, and leisure activities.These restrictions are starting to have an effect on food supply and transportation, causing food prices to rise and restricting people's access to healthy food.And before the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020, there was a food crisis in Nigeria due to the country's increasing population. According to the World Health Organization, Nigeria is plagued by three major malnutrition indicators: anemia, obesity, and stunting.Furthermore, the comparatively low production of Nigeria's agriculture sector has resulted in increased food imports to meet the needs of the country's increasing population. The country is facing serious food security issues.