Determinants of Dairy Households’ Food Security in Char Areas of Northern Bangladesh

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine of food security status of dairy households in char areas of Bangladesh and to identify the major constraints faced by the dairy farmers. A total of 600 poorest households with dairying were selected out of 1323 households from each upazila of Sariakandi, Islampur and Belkuchi of Bogra, Jamalpur and Sirajganj districts, respectively using simple random sampling technique. To identify the factors influencing the food security status of farming households, food security index (Z), food insecurity gap/surplus index (P) and the head count ratio (H) were calculated. The food security indices before and after intervention of the project were0.87, 0.89, 0.91; and 1.02, 1.02, and 1.04 for Sariakandi, Islampur and Belkuchi upazilas for food secured households, respectively whereas for food insecure households, the figures were 0.63, 0.55, 0.64; and 0.72, 0.64, and 0.74, respectively. Before the project intervention, the values of food surplus indices in the case of food secure households were 0.01, 0.01 and 0.09 which had increased to 0.04, 0.04 and 0.14 after the intervention in Sariakandi, Islampur and Belkuchi upazilas, respectively. On the other hand, the values of food shortfall indices in case of the food insecure households in Sariakandi, Islampur and Belkuchi upazilas had decreased from -0.35, -0.45 and -0.33 to -0.27, -0.36 and -0.26, respectively after the intervention. The problems related to rising of dairy animals were lack of capital with CFI 33 was ranked as 1st, whereas, high cost of milk collection and delivery with CFI 28, poor communication and transport facilities with CFI 26, lack of market information with CFI 26, irregular payment with CFI 26 and scattered milk production with CFI 25 were ranked as 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, respectively. Diversified job opportunities, mobilization of resources and credit allocation are needed for enhancing dairy farming and ensuring food security in the study areas. The problems related to rising of dairy animals were lack of storage facilities with CFI 651 was ranked as 1st, whereas, lack of adequate capital with CFI 626, expensive and inadequate feed supply with CFI 622, low quality feed with CFI 598, and lack of transportation and communication facilities with CFI 550 were ranked as 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th, respectively.