CAN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTE TO HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY? THE CAMEROON EXPERIENCE

Abstract

So many factors have affected the welfare of households such as environmental hazards, changes in agricultural production, price fluctuations and population growth which have prompted researches to ameliorate the situation of households. This research paper however seeks to investigate the effect of education on food security among households in Cameroon. Using the ECAM IV survey data collected by the National Institute of Statistics in 2014 from 10,303 households in Cameroon and the food security index was measured using a polychoric principal component analysis (PCA). A Two-Stage Instrumental Variable (IV) technique was used to establish the relationship between education and food security. The Average Household Educational Attainment (AHEA) was calculated by calculating the average length of time that household members above the age of 18 years have spent in school. The normalized index and AHEA were regressed and the results obtained showed that AHEA was very significant in influencing household food security. Also, education was observed to have a positive and very significant variable in building the welfare index of the households. It was recommended that household members should pursue longer years of education as a means to guarantee the food security of their households. Article visualizations: