Do Livelihood Capitals Improve Food Security among Smallholder Farmers? Evidence from Horticulture Farmers in East Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of livelihood capitals on smallholder farmers’ food security. This study employed cross-sectional data from 300 smallholder farmers in the Malang Regency of East Java, Indonesia. The household food expenditure and food consumption score (FCS) were applied to assess farmers’ household food security status. Furthermore, the data were analyzed using multiple linear regression to estimate the effect of livelihood capitals on food expenditure, and an ordered probit regression model was used to assess the effect of farmers’ livelihood capitals on FCS. The average farmers' food expenditure was about 68.124 USD per month; using FCS status, 12.33% of respondents were categorized as poor with an FCS of less than 21.5, 67.00% were categorized as borderline with an FCS score of 21.5 to 35, and 20.67% were categorized as acceptable with an FCS of more than 35. The result indicated that social capital (farming group, relations, social activity, and market information) was the most essential variable affecting household food as measured by expenditure as well as FCS, followed by human capital (education, experience, and family labor), financial capital (access to credit), and physical capital (agricultural storage and market distance). These findings suggest that there is a need to improve social access, farmers' abilities, and the agricultural infrastructure of smallholder farmers to enhance their food security.