Title: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Self-Reported Food Insecurity among Women in Burkina
Faso: Evidence from the Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA) COVID-19 Survey Data
Version: 1 Date: 07 Jul 2024
Reviewer's report:
Thank you for the opportunity to review this well-written manuscript. Using data from the PMA
survey, this study examines the impact of COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns on the food
security of women in Burkina Faso in 2020. The study explores predictors of food insecurity
during this period, finding differences associated with changing incomes during the pandemic.
Abstract
In the abstract, the frequency of food insecurity is described as dichotomous. After reading the
methods, it seems more accurate to describe this variable as “increased food insecurity compared
to before COVID-19.” *See note below regarding this suggestion after reading line 319.
Introduction
Overall, the introduction provides a comprehensive overview of relevant literature and flows
well. I also commend the authors for their engagement with theories of vulnerability and
entitlements. These theoretical considerations significantly strengthen the manuscript.
Minor Comments/Suggestions:
Line 93: The appositive in the sentence, “Notably the lack of a gender lens, especially women,”
reads oddly. It currently suggests that women are a gender lens. I believe it intends to highlight
a lack of focus on gender, particularly on female experiences. Consider rephrasing for clarity.
Line 119: Please clarify how you operationalize or conceptualize those “at the worst end of
the pandemic.” Given this definition is a crucial part of your framework, elaborating on the
multiple axes of vulnerability and how you focus on those most affected regarding food and
related resources would be beneficial.
Line 154: The word "collective" in “collective action” should be lowercase.
Line 157: Ensure consistent capitalization of “COVID-19.”
Methods
Major Comment:
Line 319: The question described in line 319, “whether they went without food frequently or
not,” does not align with the question described in line 215, “Is lack of food more common now
compared to before the coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions began?” which had two responses:
(i) Yes; (ii) No. Clarify which question was used for the analyses. If the former was used, it
should be specified in line 215 to ensure consistency and clarity regarding the framing of that
variable.
Minor Comments/Suggestions:
Line 215: The description of the second variable (frequency of food insecurity) could be revised
to accurately reflect the survey question.
Line 179: Since PMA collects data from multiple countries, could you elaborate on why data
from Burkina Faso alone was selected?
Line 223: Briefly explain why these particular explanatory variables were chosen. Although a
detailed explanation of the proposed relationships between explanatory and outcome variables
is not necessary, providing some rationale could strengthen this section.
Figure 1: Edits to ensure uniformity in the arrows and boxes are warranted.
Discussion
The discussion effectively integrates findings with the existing literature. Notably, it focuses
extensively on the multivariate analysis of food insecurity, with less emphasis on the frequency
of food insecurity. Additionally, it weaves findings with theories of vulnerability but does not
consider entitlements. This could be an interesting opportunity to probe how findings point to the
influence of social structures and market failures on entitlements and subsequent vulnerabilities
across axes of identity difference.
Minor Comments/Suggestions
It is interesting that divorced or separated women were more likely to experience frequent food
insecurity compared to single women, though the large CI on the AOR is noteworthy. Given
that a very small proportion of women surveyed were divorced/separated or widowed, as shown
in Table 1, consider discussing this in more detail.
I suggest adding contextualization and consideration of the findings in Table 3 to the discussion.
These could either be integrated into the current discussion material or presented as a stand-
alone paragraph.