Socio-Economic and Behavioral Assessment of Food Security In Rukum District of Nepal

Abstract

The socio-economic and behavioural drivers of food security in six Village Development Committees (VDCs) in Rukum District in Nepal is presented. Each VDC was divided into clusters based on ethnicity, food sufficiency, family income, landholding, livestock holding, crop production, and access to food and market. The clusters were selected randomly, and proportional households inside the sampled cluster were selected using Equal Probability of Selection Method (EPSEM). The study sample comprises of 1000 households. The data were collected by interviewing a representative of each household using structured and semi structured questionnaire, and a phone survey was conducted with selected households based phone availability.Seven focus group discussions were held, and three institutions working in food security were consulted. The different socio-economics and behavioral factors for food supply, demand and food security were analysed using three indices of food insecurity namely: (1) Food Insecurity Incidence (FII), (2) Food Insecurity Gap Incidence (FIGI), and(3) Food Security Severity Index (FISI).The findings reveals that the most significant drivers influencing food insecurity were land holding, source of family income and the educational level.The poorest and the landless female-headed households were the hardest hit. Lack of basic infrastructures (road and irrigation) high prices of food products,marginality of productivity, lower and ever decreasing production of agricultural commodities were key factors for food insecurity incidence. Very traditional cropping pattern and lower intensity have decreased self reliance and resilience of the food security.The ethnicity, family size and social participation were found weakly associated with food insecurity Food security being a multidimensional problem that is linked with different social,economical and behavioural factors, need to bead dressed through an integrated approach.The findings of this study would provide a guide for addressing food security issues and planning at District, Local and Household levels.