Food insecurity in urban poor households in Mumbai, India

India ranks 66th of 88 countries in the Global Hunger Index and has a quarter of the world??s hungry. Food security status of 377 million inhabitants of India??s urban areas, of which one-fourth live in extreme poverty, is poorly documented. The purpose of this study was to determine (a) the extent of food insecurity among households in urban slums, (b) to quantitatively assess their subjective experiences related to food insecurity and (c) to identify sub-groups among the urban poor that are vulnerable to food insecurity. A cross-sectional, interviewer-administered survey of adult female respondents from 283 households, selected using two-stage cluster sampling, was conducted in slums across three municipal wards in the city of Mumbai. Food insecurity, as measured by the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), was found in a large number of households in the urban slums of Mumbai; 59.7?% (n?=?169) households were categorized as severely food-insecure, 16.6?% (n?=?47) as mildly to moderately food-insecure, and 23.7?% (n?=?67) as food-secure. Further analysis revealed that severe food insecurity was significantly associated with lower monthly household income and other socioeconomic status measures such as lower household monthly per capita income, lower rank in the standard of living index (SLI) and less monthly per capita expense on food items. Households where the woman was the primary income-earner and contributed the largest share to the monthly household income, and was older, less educated, with less media use or access were more likely to experience severe food insecurity. Although corrective steps at the household level such as livelihood security schemes and income generation programs are necessary, they will not be sufficient to eliminate this problem; state intervention is required in order to assure food security for the urban poor. The Government of India has drafted a Food Security Bill; but the criteria for determining which households are vulnerable and deserving are still being debated. The findings of this study highlight the urgency of corrective action and also provide pointers for the identification of vulnerable or priority sub-groups. Food security policies and programs have to be implemented immediately and effectively in order to ensure that subsidies and food items are allocated to the households of the vulnerable urban poor.     

Food insecurity and coping strategies in South-West Nigeria

Food insecurity and coping strategies in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State in the south-western part of Nigeria were studied by means of a multistage sampling technique. Data were collected from 80 households, consisting of 321 members, with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire, and were analysed using a Food Insecurity Index. The overall incidence of food insecurity was 58.8 % while the depth of food insecurity, expressed as the average percent increase in calories required to meet the recommended daily requirement, was 19.5 %. Thus, the study confirmed the widespread existence of household food insecurity but with mild severity. Food insecurity indices declined with higher levels of income and educational attainment but increased with household size and number of dependants. Incidence of food insecurity was slightly higher among female headed than male headed households but the depth and severity were lower. Eating less expensive and less preferred food and reducing portion sizes were the three most common coping strategies for combating short-term food shortages. Policies that would enhance income earning capacity of household members and their access to higher education, well-focused gender specific interventions and promotion of backyard farming are advocated.     

“He said, she said”: who should speak for households about experiences of food insecurity in Bangladesh?

This paper examines the extent to which males and females from the same household respond differently to household food insecurity questions, and explores the reasons for these differences and the impact for measurement. The data derive from the 2001–2003 Bangladesh Food Insecurity Measurement and Validation Study. Male and female enumerators administered the food insecurity questionnaire to women and men in the same household during three survey rounds and debriefed a subsample of men and women regarding their response discrepancies. The rate of discordance in male-female responses to individual items was examined using contingency tables. Potential explanations for the discordance were informed by the joint respondent debriefing. These hypotheses were assessed through an examination of response patterns. To assess the impact of discordance on measurement, female and male responses to a scale of 13 food insecurity items were compared and the degree of differential classification was assessed. On average the rate of discordance was 15%, but it ranged for particular items from less than 1% to upwards of 53%. Item content interacted with gender to produce discordance; women and men seemed to respond differently due to separate spheres of responsibility within the same household, power imbalances influencing intra-household food allocation, and because men seemed to take more psychological responsibility for ensuring the household food supply. Nearly one-third of households were classified in a different food security category using female versus male responses to the items. The results suggest that the household food insecurity construct is not as useful in places like Bangladesh where certain food insecurity-related manifestations are not collectively or similarly shared by members of the same living space. Individual-level measures of food insecurity are needed to complement household data, along with surveys that allow for proportionate representation of potentially vulnerable individuals with different demographic characteristics across the population.     

Vulnerability of smallholder rural households to food insecurity in Eastern Ethiopia

Although several empirical methodologies as to how best assess vulnerability to food insecurity have been proposed in the literature, none of these has evolved into a unanimously accepted approach. This article contributes to this literature by adapting the Vulnerability as Expected Poverty approach from poverty analysis methodology with the aim of scrutinizing factors determining household level vulnerability to food insecurity based on cross-section data collected from 277 randomly selected households in eastern Ethiopia. Vulnerability to food insecurity was strongly associated with several factors which included family size, size of cultivated landholding, soil fertility status of plots, access to irrigation, number of extension visits, use of fertilizer and improved seed. The probability that any given household??s food consumption expenditure would fall below a specified cut-off level has also been computed and vulnerable households identified. The total number of vulnerable households (111) was found to be greater than those who are currently food insecure (103). This implies that design and implementation of food security policies and strategies need to focus not only on those who are observed to be currently food insecure, but also on setting up social protection mechanisms to help prevent households from falling more deeply into food insecurity in the future.     

Food security in a remittance based economy

We interviewed 395 subsistence farming households from Chitwan, Nepal in order to identify the impact of remittances and other explanatory variables on child, adult, and household food security. The highest category of the IV - ordered probit regression models with cluster robust standard errors indicated that the food security status of households, adults and children was explained by gender and age of household head, adoption of conservation agricultural technology, number of fruit trees, and income from agricultural and livestock sources. Additional variables affecting only children’s food security were the adoption of hybrid rice or maize varieties and the wage income or salary earned within the district, whereas an additional variable affecting only household and adult food security was the wage income earned outside the district. Households receiving international remittances were more food secure than those households that did not receive such remittances.     

Energy and nutrient supply according to food insecurity severity among Mexican households

Studies from Latin America have shown that food insecurity reduces dietary diversity. However, dietary diversity measures do not account for the energy and nutrient supply in households. The objective of our study was to know whether there are differences in food, energy and nutrients supplies in Mexican households according to their food insecurity level. We analyzed the database of the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey performed in Mexico in 2014. The modified Latin-American and Caribbean Food Security Scale was used to determine the existence of household food security or insecurity. Participants registered foods and beverages available at their homes during the previous week. The supply of energy and nutrients was estimated using Mexican and American food composition references. Mexican food secure households had greater supply of healthy (e.g., fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and seafood, and fresh meats) and unhealthy (e.g., processed meats, fries, sugar-sweetened beverages, desserts, and alcoholic beverages) foods. By contrast, food insecure households rely on cheap staple food (e.g. maize, rice, pulses, eggs, and sugar). There was a linear relationship between the energy density and severity of food insecurity. Households with mild and moderate food insecurity had greater total energy supplies than households with food security and severe food insecurity. Food insecure households had greater supplies of carbohydrates, cholesterol, iron, and magnesium, but lower supplies of protein, fat, vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, calcium, and sodium. Most of the results suggest that food insecure households are exposed mostly to negative aspects of the nutrition transition because they have greater access to energy and lower availability of some micronutrients.     

“Modeling the impact of natural resource-based poverty traps on food security in Kenya: The Crops, Livestock and Soils in Smallholder Economic Systems (CLASSES) model”

We investigate the interactions between natural resource-based poverty traps and food security for smallholder farms in highland Kenya using a recently developed system dynamics bio-economic model. This approach permits examination of the complex interactions and feedback between farm household economic decision-making and long-term soil fertility dynamics that characterize persistent poverty and food insecurity among smallholders in rural highland Kenya. We examine the effects of changing initial endowments of land and stocks of soil organic matter on smallholders?? well being, as reflected in several different indicators. We show that larger and higher quality land endowments permit accumulation of cash and livestock resources and conservation of soil organic matter relative to smaller or more degraded farms. This suggests the existence of asset thresholds that divide food secure households from food insecure ones.     

Cash, food, or vouchers? An application of the Market Information and Food Insecurity Response Analysis Framework in urban and rural Kenya

This paper uses the Market Information and Food Insecurity Response Analysis Framework to analyze data on food market intermediation and on consumer behavior and preferences in order to clarify whether market-based cash and voucher programs are likely to prove effective for addressing food insecurity in rural and urban study sites in Kenya. The findings carry important implications for food security interventions by government and operational agencies. We confirm that context matters when undertaking a response analysis. While we find that cash and/or vouchers are appropriate in both urban and rural locations, markets in surveyed urban settlements can respond better to a large injection of cash or vouchers than can surveyed rural areas. Moreover, household vulnerabilities are associated with household preferences in different ways across the two sites. In rural areas, female headed households and households reporting a physical limit to market access were among the groups that strongly preferred food aid to cash or vouchers while households with these characteristics in urban areas preferred the flexibility of cash or vouchers to food.     

Child's gender and household food insecurity are associated with stunting among young Pakistani children residing in urban squatter settlements

BACKGROUND: The nutritional status of children is a good indicator of the overall well-being of a society and reflects food security as well as existing health-care and environmental conditions. In Pakistan, it is estimated that nearly 40% to 50% of children under the age of five are stunted. Due to greater economic opportunities available to the urban population as compared to the rural, it was believed that economic resources existed in poor urban Pakistani households but that the households lacked the skills and knowledge to translate their resources into good care and feeding practices. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed 1) to assess the prevalent care and feeding practices among children aged 6 to 18 months residing in the squatter settlements of Karachi and 2) to identify care and feeding practices, as well as any other underlying factors, associated with stunting. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in eight settlements between October and December 2000. A total of 433 mothers of eligible children were interviewed with the use of structured questionnaires. Final analysis using multiple logistic regression was conducted on 399 mother-child pairs. RESULTS: Female children were nearly three times more likely to be stunted than male children. Households that were food insecure with hunger were also three times more likely than other households to have a stunted child. Lack of maternal formal schooling (adjusted prevalence odds ratio, 2.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.4 to 3.8) and large household size (adjusted prevalence odds ratio, 1.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.0 to 3.8) were also associated with stunting. Even though certain care and feeding practices were significant at the univariate level, they were not significant in the final multivariate analysis and so were excluded from the final model. CONCLUSIONS: In households where food insecurity exists, knowledge of care practices may not be sufficient, and interventions such as food subsidies must precede or accompany educational efforts. Further follow-up is required to explore the effect of gender differences on child care.     

The effect of education on household food security in two informal urban settlements in Kenya: a longitudinal analysis

Poverty and food insecurity continue to feature prominently in the global agenda, with particularly close attention being paid to the determinants of food insecurity. However, the effect of education is mixed and remains understudied in low income countries. Using longitudinal data collected between 2007 and 2012 in Kenya, we investigated the effect of household education attainment on food security among poor urban households. Household food security was constructed from a set of four key items while education was the average years of schooling for individuals aged 18 years and above in a household. To determine the association between education attainment and food security, we fitted a random effects generalised ordered probit model. The prevalence of severe food insecurity ranged from 49 % in 2008 to 35 % in 2012. The ordered probit results showed a significant effect of education on food security. The probability of being food insecure decreased by 0.019 for a unit increase in the average years of schooling for a given household. The effect of education, remained significant even after controlling for household wealth index, a more proximate determinant of food security in a cash-based economy such as the urban slums. The findings highlight the need to focus on the food security status of the urban poor. Specifically, results suggest the need for programs aimed at reducing food insecurity among the urban poor and enhancing household livelihoods. In addition, investment in the education of the slum households may, in the long term, contribute to reduction in the prevalence of food insecurity.     

Household food insecurity in small municipalities in Northeastern Brazil: a validation study

The State of Paraiba in Northeastern Brazil ranks as the fourth poorest state in the country. The objectives of this study are to conduct the psychometric validation of the Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Scale (EBIA), to assess the household food insecurity (HFI) prevalence, and to identify the association between HFI, poverty and dietary intake in a representative sample of Paraiba’s 14 poorest municipalities (N = 4533). All municipalities included had fewer than 50,000 inhabitants. EBIA had strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.93 and 0.90 in households with and without children, respectively). The percentage of affirmative responses for each item was inversely associated with household income and the item curves were parallel across socio-economic strata. Rasch modeling indicated that: a) scale items severities followed theoretical expectations, b) all items had an adequate fit to the scale confirming its unidimensionality, and c) items ‘functioned’ similarly across key subpopulation characteristics including: urban/rural; men/women; younger/older; poor/less poor; Bolsa Familia enrollment (yes/no). HFI prevalence was higher in rural than in urban areas (55.5 % vs. 49.9 %, p < 0.0005) and severe food insecurity was substantially higher in rural areas (14.0 % vs. 9.0 %, p < 0.0005). HFI severity was inversely associated with household income, positively associated with daily sugar consumption and inversely associated with daily consumption of bread and nutrient dense foods (fruits, vegetables, and dairy). In conclusion, EBIA had strong internal and external validity at the municipal level. Findings are particularly relevant for Brazil where 89.1 % of municipalities (4,957 out of 5,565 municipalities) have less than 50,000 inhabitants.     

The impact of the homestead food garden programme on food security in South Africa

The South African government has implemented homestead food garden (HFG) programmes directed at enhancing food production in order to reduce food insecurity, malnutrition, poverty and hunger. The present paper evaluated the impact of this programme on household food insecurity using surveys of 500 households. Endogenous switching regression, propensity score matching and household food insecurity average scores were employed in our analysis. Our findings demonstrated that participation in an HFG programme could significantly enhance the food security status of participants by increasing household food supply and consumption as well as by income derived from selling any excess production from the garden. Specifically, our empirical findings showed that participation in the HFG programme significantly reduced food insecurity among rural households by as much as 41.5%. Therefore, we recommend that policy makers should encourage more rural households to participate in the programme in order to reduce their food insecurity. Facilitating easy access to credit, extension services, fertilizer, irrigation facilities and land are policy options needed to promote farmers participation in HFG programmes. Furthermore, the formation of farmer-based organizations and the building of positive perceptions about HFGs are some of the key policy options that can be employed to improve households’ participation in the programme. Promotion of education, participating in off-farm activities, access to market, irrigation, extension and credit, and adoption of fertiliser are some policy interventions that can reduce food insecurity among rural house holds whether or not they participate in the HFG programme.     

Adaptation to climate change and the impacts on household food security among rural farmers in uMzinyathi District of Kwazulu-Natal,South Africa

It is anticipated that smallholder subsistence farmers will face severe negative impacts from climate change, with household food security being seriously affected. This paper examines the methods of adaptation to climate change used by smallholder farmers and their impacts on household food security. The necessity to adapt to climate change is caused by a combination of sensitivity and exposure and the success in doing so depends on adaptive capacity. Household food security was determined using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Of the surveyed households, 95 % were aware that climate is changing and expected severe impacts on their crop production systems. Households undertake crop and soil management practices in order to respond to the changing climate. About 83 % of households anticipated that they would alter their livelihoods systems in response to climate change, with 59 % of households indicating that government grants would play an important role in this. Of those assessed, 97 % were severely food insecure and the remaining 3 % were moderately food insecure. Householders were worried about the negative impacts of climate change which included droughts, floods and soil erosion. Householders who were vulnerable to climate change recorded high levels of food insecurity. Decline in prices of farm products, increases in costs of farm inputs and anxiety over occurrence of livestock diseases exacerbated household food insecurity. Information will play a critical role in mitigating the impacts of climate change on household food security but farmers should also be assisted with appropriate input packages, such as seeds and fertilizers that can help them adapt effectively.     

Short-term determinants of malnutrition among children in Malawi

Short-term determinants of Severe Acute Malnutrition in children in Malawi during the period 2003 to 2009 were investigated in the three regions that compose Malawi ?C northern, central and southern ?C through an OLS approach and a first-order autocorrelation model. Explanatory variables were selected according to the definition of food security provided by the 1996 World Food Summit. Monthly changes in the number of children admitted to Nutrition and Rehabilitation Units was the impact variable adopted. The explanatory variables selected included a proxy of household income spent on food and the monthly variation in domestic price of maize, its trend, cyclical, seasonal and irregular components, informal cross-border imports in maize, urea price, non-food price index, and number of Nutrition and Rehabilitation Units. The study integrates recently developed studies on food insecurity in Malawi with regional and monthly perspectives. Results verify that child malnutrition is a chronic problem fuelled by transitory food insecurity, including seasonal and temporary features, with the common determinant being the market dependence of households on food purchases during the lean season. This impact is exacerbated by regional-specific explanatory variables: the variation in seasonal and irregular maize price components and the non-food price index in the central region, along with the cyclical maize price component and net cross-border maize imports in southern Malawi.     

Mopane worm (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Imbrasia belina</Emphasis>) and rural household food security in Limpopo province,South Africa

Rural households in South Africa are vulnerable to food and income adversity. As a result, they adopt a range of livelihoods strategies, including consumption and trade of woodland resources to improve their living standards. Mopane worms (caterpillars of the Emperor Moth Imbrasia belina) have been identified as important to rural livelihoods, as an alternative land-use option as well as in fulfilling an important food security function. Whilst mopane worms may contribute to food security, this safety-net function needs more critical and quantitative investigation. This study examined the relationship between mopane worm consumption and household’s food security in the Limpopo Province, South Africa using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and the Tobit regression model based on a household survey of 120 respondents. The result from HFIAS showed that about 52 % of the households were severely food insecure, while others were either mildly or moderately food insecure. Only 16 % of the households were food secure. The Tobit regression model estimates show that proxy variables (i.e. income from mopane worm trade and the frequency of mopane worm consumption) measuring the contribution of mopane worms to rural household food security are statistically significant factors influencing household food insecurity in the study area. Implications for policy are discussed.     

Drivers of rural-urban migration and impact on food security in rural Tanzania

This paper contributes to (1) the Valletta action plan by identifying root causes of migration in Africa, and (2) the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda reflecting the close links between migration and development. Our objectives are to identify drivers of rural-urban migration in Tanzania and to examine its impact on food security. The analyses are based on survey data of 900 rural households in the Dodoma and Morogoro districts of Tanzania from 2013. The logistic regression revealed that several household characteristics such as age of the household head, household size, and dependency ratio, but also employment and welfare status determine whether any household member migrates from the rural area to an urban area. Households from the more remote and food insecure Dodoma district were more likely to have migrants looking for jobs than households from Morogoro district. The Propensity Score Matching approach revealed that migration significantly worsens the food security status of rural migrant households in terms of access, availability and stability. This outcome is explained by the loss in labor input, leading to lower agricultural productivity of rural households, which cannot be compensated by the transfer of remittances from their respective migrants. Thus, migration does not always function as a pathway out of food insecurity in developing countries.     

Assessing reliability,change after intervention,and performance of a water insecurity scale in rural Ethiopia

There is growing interest in the phenomenon of water insecurity, yet a relative paucity of tools to assess the occurrence and severity of water insecurity at the household level. We sought to assess the validity and reliability of a household water insecurity scale in a rural Ethiopian context. Secondary data on water insecurity from up to 1934 rural Ethiopian households that had participated in a water and sanitation intervention was analysed. Exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha were used to assess dimensionality of the water insecurity responses and parametric and non-parametric tests used to test for differences in household water insecurity scores across household types and objective measures of household water access. Factor analysis revealed one dominant factor and the Cronbach’s alpha of the water insecurity scale was 0.94. Households with access to improved water sources, that lived close to water collection points, that did not farm, and that felt they had “enough” water all scored as significantly more water secure on the household water insecurity scale (P < 0.05). The household water insecurity scale also predicted the occurrence of diarrhea among children in the household (aOR 1.2, 95 % CI 1.08, 1.33) whereas no other measure of water access did. Finally, household water insecurity scores improved by 55 % after a water and sanitation intervention.Our results suggest the possibility of an effective water insecurity tool, which might be deployed to assess the epidemiology of water insecurity including its causes and consequences. Future research should aim to validate the tool against behavioral observations and to link shifts in water insecurity to changes in health and wellbeing.     

Household food insecurity in Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste is among the world’s youngest and poorest countries. It suffers from seasonal food insecurity and has the third-highest stunting rate globally. Previously inadequately documented, this paper summarises recent advances in understanding household food security in Timor-Leste and the multifaceted approaches being used to overcome it. Information comes from the extensive annual surveys of the Seeds of Life (SoL) program in Timor-Leste. The hungry season prior to maize and rice harvests is the key issue in household food security in Timor-Leste. Farm households cope with the problem through crop diversification with tubers playing a lead role as grain stocks dwindle. Foraging for wild food resources, selling animals and other assets, and social networks are other coping strategies. To address seasonal food insecurity, the government has focused on rice importation and the improvement of agricultural productivity within a multi-dimensional program. Information on storage by households of the key staple, maize, indicates an improving trend in food security at the household level from 2006/2007 to 2010/2011 through a significant reduction in the percentage of ‘at risk’ households—those who grow insufficient maize for storage during the year. The current emphasis on the widespread dissemination of the new high-yielding SoL cultivars has the potential to augment these improving trends. Nevertheless this picture remains vulnerable to weather shocks—such as drought—which are anticipated to increase with climate change and it is important to build further resilience into the agricultural systems of Timor-Leste.