Determinants of household food security in a rangeland area of Uganda

Abstract

Pastoralists and agro-pastoralists operating in the rangelands of Uganda remain food insecure. This study determined the status of household food security in Nakaseke district, Uganda. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in February 2016 among 180 randomly selected households. Two measures of food security; a Self-Reported Food Security Status Index (RFSI) and a multi-dimensional index generated through the Principal Component Analysis (PCAI) were used. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions were performed to identify important determinants. Results showed that 46.8% of the households were food insecure. The perceived peak period for food shortage was between July and August. Most households (95.1%) met their food needs through off-farm sources. Age of household head, educational level of household head, off-farm/ non-farm income, cross-breeding and livestock ownership positively influenced household food security (p≤0.05). The sex of household head, household size (AE) and absence of credit negatively influenced household food security (p≤0.05). It is proposed that a suit of actions including income diversification through participation in offfarm activities, increasing access to education, encouraging crop-livestock integration and improving livestock productivity be used to improve household food security in this rangeland area of Uganda.