COVID-19 pandemic and food insecurity: bibliometrics, associations, interferences, and perspectives

Resumo

The SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic was also marked by research and the publication of scientific papers associated with the relationship between the pandemic event in the increase in food insecurity. The bibliometric tools were used to understand this scenario better. Two bibliometric strategies of co-words were used for research and data analysis, allowing the evaluation of scientific contributions related to the theme. The indicators showed the scope of food insecurity in different countries (detected by several research areas), and the adopted analysis strategies complemented each other. These indicators revealed that the studies were related to hunger, food security, food insecurity, and obesity. There is an association between the pandemic and all the items studied, with a strong probability of the pandemic interfering with food insecurity.  Almost all research (papers) points to strategic actions to reduce the problems arising from the pandemic (loss prevention, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, international collaborative efforts, comprehensive health, and commitment to the SDGs) from a perspective to mitigate food insecurity. Also, most works argue that the pandemic interfered with the worsening of food insecurity, although this statement is made from a theoretical and empirical perspective.