COVID-19 implications on household income and food security in Kenya and Uganda: Findings from a rapid assessment.

What Determines Gender Inequality in Household Food Security in Kenya? Application of Exogenous Switching Treatment Regression

Crickets, as one of the edible insects, represent a promising alternative for enhancing food security through direct human consumption or as livestock feed. This study investigated the impact of cricket farming on household food security in Kenya and Uganda, focusing on a sample of 187 cricket farmers and 457 non-farmers. Utilizing the Food Insecurity Experience Scale and the Food Consumption Score, the research assesses dimensions of food access, stability, utilization, and availability. An endogenous switching regression model was employed to analyze the influence of gender of cricket farming decision-makers and participation in cricket farming on food security outcomes. For male decision-makers, key determinants for adoption included awareness, the availability of processing technology, ready markets, and perceived risks. Female decision-makers were more significantly influenced by awareness, training opportunities, perceived benefits, and social norms. Female decision-makers who engaged in cricket farming (Y1 = 1.756) exhibited a higher levels of household food security compared to non-adopters (Y0 = 1.567), yielding a significant positive treatment effect (ATT = 0.188). In contrast, male adopters experienced a slight decrease in food security, reflecting a negative effect (ATT = −0.516). This study highlights the importance of gender differences in food security outcomes and informs policy initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable food security through cricket farming. Targeted training is recommended to enhance female farmers’ skills and improve productivity as a proxy for food security. Interventions should promote group association and establish aggregation centers at the policy level to enhance access to resources and market linkages for male farmers.

Impacts of COVID-19 on food security, employment and education: An empirical assessment during the early phase of the pandemic

The COVID-19 crisis has not only increased socio-economic inequalities globally but it also severely affected people's everyday lives. This study explores the impacts of COVID-19 on household income, food security, and food consumption patterns in the urban slums of Punjab, Pakistan. Using a multistage random sampling method, cross-sectional data was collected from 257 households through face-to-face interviews. Respondents were chosen randomly applying the random walk method. The data were analysed using Probit regression models. The household food security situation was estimated using the food insecurity experience scale (HFIES) developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Results show that household income and food security situations during the COVID-19 pandemic were significantly affected by education level, household size, daily-wage earnings, salaried employment, and household income slot-I. Household participation in social safety programs appears to help mitigate income shocks and decrease food insecurity. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, 73.92% and 54.86% of the surveyed households faced income shocks and worsened food security, respectively. The consumption of meat, poultry products, and seafood decreased by 21.01%, 17.50%, and 14.39%, respectively, during the pandemic, in comparison to the pre-pandemic period. The study recommends that authorities should consider continuously focusing on supporting existing national social safety programs and designing new ones by providing responsive packages during such adversities. Further, structuring robust financial institutions to aid business recovery and to ensure the availability of food to marginalised communities, particularly in urban slums, could sustain the masses.

Impact of tissue culture banana technology on farm household income and food security in Kenya

Aggregate estimates of food expenditure are consistent with such a possibility, implying income/expenditure elasticities close to one. However, the high degree of aggregation at which such estimates are made means that the considerable increase in price per nutrient as income increases is ignored, and the nutrient elasticities are therefore overstated. Estimates for a rural south Indian sample indicate that this bias is considerable and that the true nutrient elasticities with respect to income may be close to zero.

Food is both a basic need and a human right. As such, food security is a critical factor in individual and social health. This study aimed at assessing the pooled prevalence of household food security in Kenya. Relevant studies were systematically searched through manual and electronic searches. We searched databases including; Scopus, Embase, Science Direct, Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar and Cochrane Library. The Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses protocol (PRISMA-P) guideline was followed. Heterogeneity of the primary studies was examined using the Cochrane Q test statistics and I2 test. A random-effect model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of household food security. The prevalence was determined at a 95% confidence interval with its corresponding odds at a p value of less than 0.05. A total of 15 studies were included. The pooled prevalence of household food security was 22.33% (95% CI: 16.60%-28.06%). Households in an urban setting had a lower (19.28%) food security (95% CI: 12.55%-26.01%) as compared to those in rural settings (25.27%) (95% CI: 16.60%-28.06%). Additionally, those studies conducted post the Sustainable development goals (SDGs) had a higher (24.20%) household food security prevalence (95% CI: 11.49%-36.91%) as compared to those conducted before (21.16%) (95% CI: 14.11%-28.21%). Household food security remains a major concern in the country, particularly in the urban setting. Policymakers and the Government (national and county levels) at large should upscale and accelerate efforts to improve the household food security situation.

This study analyzed the food and nutrition security of selected urban and rural households in Pili, Camarines Sur, Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. It determined the prevalence of food insecurity among the selected urban and rural households, analyzed the determinants of food insecurity in these households, determined the prevalence of malnutrition, and assessed the relationship between the households’ food security and nutrition security. Primary data from a survey of 185 urban and rural households and secondary data from the Electronic Operation Timbang Plus (e-OPT) Tool were used to determine the prevalence of food insecurity using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and nutrition insecurity between urban and rural households, respectively. Results revealed that, during the pandemic, there were more (89.1%) food-insecure households most of which were from urban areas (88.3%). The ordered logistic regression analysis also showed that food insecurity in urban households was determined by the age of the household head, household monthly income, household size, and access to credit, while food insecurity in rural households was determined by education, monthly income, household daily food expenditure, and land ownership. Stunting and wasting among children under the age of five were more evident in urban households; however, rural households had a higher prevalence of stunted and wasted children aged 6 – 12 yr. The Fisher’s Exact Test results showed that the food security status and nutrition security level of children aged 0 – 5 yr and school-aged children were unrelated. Targeted courses of action are recommended to address area-specific nutrition problems.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to examine the effects of trade policies and regulations on global livestock markets and food security in Kenya. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: The study revealed that the effects of trade policies and regulations on global livestock markets and food security in Kenya underscore the intricate interplay between local agricultural systems and international trade dynamics. Trade policies, including tariffs, quotas, and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, significantly influence Kenya's livestock sector by shaping market access, competitiveness, and domestic production levels. While trade liberalization measures may enhance market opportunities and foster economic growth, they also pose challenges to local farmers and food security by exposing them to international competition and market fluctuations. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: New Trade Theory & Institutional Theory may be used to anchor future studies on effects of trade policies and regulations on global livestock markets and food security in Kenya. Efforts should be made to enhance the transparency, coherence, and consistency of trade policies and regulations related to livestock markets. There is a need to adopt a balanced approach that promotes trade while safeguarding food security and sustainable development goals. Policymakers should prioritize measures that enhance the resilience and competitiveness of domestic livestock producers, particularly small-scale farmers and vulnerable communities. This could involve targeted support programs such as access to credit, technical assistance, and market information, aimed at improving productivity, market access, and income generation.

Kenya has a total land area of 582,646 square kilometres of which, about 99,050 square kilometres (17%) is classified as medium to high agricultural potential experiencing at least 700mm of rainfall per annum. The remaining 83% is classified as ASAL and needs some irrigation for meaningful farming to take place. Irrigation is necessary in order to increase food production to provide food security to support the rapidly growing population, and ensure economic growth in the dwindling land holdings of high to medium potential areas (IDB, 1998). The Kenya Vision 2030 (2008-2030), targets the development and rehabilitation of irrigation schemes in the country to increase agricultural production and generate an additional Kshs. 80 – 90 billion increase in GDP. It also prescribes introduction of new land use policy through better utilisation of high and medium potential lands, prepare new lands for cultivation by strategically developing more irrigable areas in arid and semi-arid lands for both crops and livestock and by improving market access to smallholders through better marketing. However, participation of smallholder farmers in irrigation activities can be affected by socio-economic factors such as access to credit facilities, access to extension services and marketing of produce among others. The study investigated the socioeconomic factors of smallholder irrigation on household food security in Gem Rae irrigation scheme. The study used cross-sectional survey design in which a sample of 120 farmers was interviewed using structured questionnaire. The data was analysed descriptively using percentages and frequencies. The study revealed that factors such as access to credit, size and land ownership, level of education of the household head and access to extension services had impacted negatively on farmers’ participation in irrigation activities, thereby impacting on household food security and household incomes. The study concluded that future development of smallholder irrigation needs to factor in the socio-economic trade-offs of irrigation in its suitability criteria for its development.

EFFECTS OF SMALLHOLDER DIVERSIFICATION ON RURAL HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY IN KENYA ABSTRACT Market-oriented economic reforms are now at least 20 years old in most of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Prior to these reforms, most economies were fettered with far-ranging limits on investment, private sector trade, and other initiatives, and on the free movement of agricultural products over space. Kenya is a prime example of these earlier policies, with limits on maize marketing, agricultural inputs marketing and dairy marketing restrictions that were lifted through the reforms. Over this same time, urban populations and rural population densities have increased dramatically, further broadening the scope for trade, and setting off the process of agricultural transformation. In addition, changes in the weather patterns have often affected smallholder agricultural production and consumption decisions. How have the rural farm households been affected by these dramatically different policy, economic and climatic environments, and how have these changes and patterns shaped the welfare of rural households? The effect of smallholder diversification in rural areas is conjectured to be correlated to the agricultural transformation process. In the absence of markets, households are likely to rely solely on own production and they tend to produce mainly for subsistence. As markets begin to function, diversification is likely to increase household income and wealth, but reduce the household’s ability to be food-secure, especially if diversification implies transferring resources from food crops to commercial crops in response to market opportunities. But as markets improve (or as land sizes increase), incomes are likely to be increased through specialization, not diversification, and households no longer have to rely on self-sufficiency to be food-secure. More-specialized households at this stage in the transformation process are likely to be more food-secure. Moreover, studies also show that climate change may affect a farm household choice of income activities that ultimately determine the household welfare. This is more so pertinent in the case of rural household food security. Despite receiving considerable attention in the developing countries, food security continues to be a major challenge. In SSA, for example, it is estimated that about one-quarter of the population, most of whom reside in rural areas where agriculture is the mainstay, are faced with chronic food insecurity. In addition, most rural househlds follow highly diversified agricultural an livelihood portfolios in response to potential risks such as uncertain weather. Yet fewer studies have investigated the effect of smallholder diversification on rural smallholder food security. The purpose of the study is to determine the welfare effects of crop, agricultural and livelihood diversification on farm households food security. It is hypothesized that households diversify income portfolios in order to mitigate the risks to food security. Therefore, the overall objective of this essay is to investigate the welfare effects of agricultural and livelihood diversification at the household level. The specific objectives for the study are to: (a) determine the welfare effects of crop, agricultural and livelihood diversification on rural household food security in the presence of rainfall stress and policy reforms of the 1990s, and (b) examine heterogeneity in household welfare effects of livelihood diversification between groups of households. Using a five-period panel data of 1,243 rural farm households from Kenya collected between 1997 and 2010, this study investigates welfare effects of agricultural and livelihood diversification among smallholder farmers in rural Kenya. Dynamic Panel Data method will be used to investigate the effects of smallholder diversification on rural household food security. The dynamic panel data model is appropriate since it allows for separation of the true state dependence, observed and unobserved heterogeneity. The model assumes no serial correlation of the error term but not independence. Because of potential endogeneity problem caused by, a) the inclusion of the lagged dependent variable and, b) the potential endogeneity of some right-hand side variables, a test for validity of the instrumental variables will be carried out using the Sargan test of overidentifying restrictions. In addition, a test of no serial correlation in the error terms (Arellano-Bond test) will be carried out to ensure correct specification of the model. Household food security (the dependent variable) will be proxied by the amount of maize calories available for consumption at the household per adult equivalent.

BackgroundHousehold food waste significantly contributes to overall food waste. While the relationship between food security and food waste has been extensively studied at the macro level, there is a need for research focusing on the quantitative association between food security and food waste at the household level in developing countries, particularly in Southeast Asia. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of household food insecurity and household food waste and to examine the association between household food security and food waste using direct measurements.Subjects and methodsA total of 215 households in Bogor Regency, Indonesia, participated in this cross-sectional study. Food waste was measured using waste composition analysis and a 7-day diary. The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) questionnaire was used to assess household food security, while household income and the proportion of food expenditure were considered confounding factors. The association between food security and food waste was examined using Kendall tau-b and ordinal logistic regression.ResultsThe prevalence of household food insecurity was 18.6%, and the average household food waste was 77 kg/cap/year. Cereals, tubers, and their derivatives (especially rice) and vegetables were major contributors to edible waste, while fruits dominated inedible waste. A negative association was observed between food waste and household food security (edible FW: p = 0.044, r = -0.110; total FW: p = 0.038, r = -0.114), suggesting that household food waste decreases as the severity of food insecurity increases. However, after adjusting for household income, the proportion of food expenditure, and the education levels of spouses, this association became statistically insignificant (p > 0.05).ConclusionThere was no significant association between household food security status and food waste. Household income plays a significant role in determining the quantity of household food waste, as higher income is associated with increased food waste. Strategies to prevent and reduce food waste should focus on major contributors such as rice and vegetables, especially among families with higher food accessibility.

Background: Climate-Smart Aquaculture (CSAq) practices present significant opportunity for the mitigation of climate-related challenges within the aquaculture sub-sector, particularly in the Lake Zone of Tanzania, where aquaculture and fisheries are central to household well-being. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of three CSAq practices—integrated farming, polyculture, and monoculture—on household income and food security. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between November 2023 and February 2024, involving 384 aquaculture households across the Mara and Mwanza regions. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods, including chi-square and t-tests, to determine the influence of CSAq practices on economic and food security outcomes. Results: The findings revealed that integrated farming significantly enhanced both household income and food security, with participating households achieving a "Very Satisfactory" Household Food Security Index (HFSI) score. In Mara, where integrated farming was more prevalent, households reported significantly higher yields (3303 ± 155 kg) compared to those in Mwanza (2454 ± 146 kg; t = 4.96, p < 0.001). However, Mwanza exhibited significantly higher prices per kilogram (6719 ± 103 TSH) than Mara (5799 ± 122 TSH; t = -5.29, p < 0.001) attributed to superior market access and infrastructure. Polyculture practices, more frequently adopted in Mwanza (35.7%) than in Mara (21.8%), yielded variable impacts on income and food security. Chi-square analysis (χ² = 9.269, p = 0.010) indicated significant regional disparities in CSAq adoption, with Mara exhibiting higher adoption rates of integrated farming (69.3%) compared to Mwanza (56.0%). Conclusions: This study confirmed that integrated aquaculture-agriculture systems significantly improve household income and food security, while monoculture increases vulnerability. Regional variations indicate higher yields in Mara, associated with the widespread adoption of integrated farming, whereas Mwanza benefited from enhanced market access and elevated fish prices. Strengthening financial access, training programs, and institutional support is crucial for enhancing CSAq adoption. Key recommendations include the expansion of extension services, the improvement of market infrastructure, and the fortification of cooperative support systems to ensure sustainable aquaculture. Keywords: Climate-Smart Aquaculture (CSAq), Income, Food Security, Household Well-being, Tanzania’s Lake Zone.

Food security is an issue of national importance in Kenya as it enhances economic development. One of the ways of enhancing food security is through agro-processing which not only transforms agricultural products into different forms that add value to them but also manages post-harvest losses. This study sought to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on the financial performance of agro-processing firms and its implication on food security in Kenya. The study adopted a quantitative research design. The target population of the study was Unga Group Plc in Kenya. Secondary data was used, which was obtained from the published financial statements of Unga Group Plc. Ratio analysis was used to analyze the financial performance of Unga Group Plc to determine its profitability, liquidity, efficiency, gearing level and return on investment. Analysis of the financial performance of Unga Group Plc revealed that the profitability and liquidity position were lowest in 2020. Further, the debt ratio was more than 75% in 2020 and 2021 indicating that the firm was highly geared. In addition the investors received no dividends in 2020 and 2021. This led to loss in livelihoods and reduced employee income as a result of staff restructuring and divestment of the bakery business by Unga Group Plc as it was not viable, that in turn led to reduce purchasing power due to the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken by the Kenyan government to combat it. The study concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant negative effect on the financial performance of Unga Group Plc which negatively affected the food security situation in Kenya. The study recommended that agro-processing firms in Kenya should leverage and deepen their partnerships at the global, regional and local levels so as to guarantee efficiency of their supply chain. Further they should innovate products and production processes which enhance efficiency in production which will in turn enhance food security in Kenya.

Research shows that participation in rural non-farm activities exerts a pronounced impact on agriculture, household farm decisions, rural development, income and welfare as well as household food security. This paper investigates the impact of participation in non-farm activities on household income and food security among farm households in the Upper East and Upper West Regions of Ghana. Using the Recommended Daily Calorie Required (RDCR) approach, the study finds that 45 percent of households in the two regions are food insecure. Propensity score matching (PSM) results indicate that participation in non-farm work has significant positive effect on household income and food security status. The policy implications of the findings are discussed.