Factors Affecting Food Accessibility of Rural Households:A Study in Birbhum, West Bengal

Abstract

In view of the goal of achieving ‘Zero Hunger’ by 2030 set in the United Nations Summit, 2015, the present study makes an attempt to identify the determinants of food accessibility of rural households in six selected villages of two blocks of the district of Birbhum, West Bengal. Food accessibility implies ability to acquire food through various means. The study is based on primary data collected from field survey in a few sample villages. The total sample size is 500. Food accessibility of the households is analysed in terms of their monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) on food. This calculated MPCE has been compared with the MPCE on food as per the minimum food basket for rural India set by the Planning Commission in 2014. The households have been classified into two groups, viz, households lying above the specified threshold of food accessibility are considered to be those having food accessibility and households below that cut off of food accessibility are taken to be those not having that accessibility. Logit regression, applied for finding out the determinants, reveals that number of years of education of the heads of the households, female literacy rate, monthly income of the households, work force participation rate positively influences food accessibility, while monthly expenses on intoxicants have a deterring effect on food accessibility of the households. The study suggests that access to sustainable employment opportunities for the poor can be the most important solution for achieving ‘Zero Hunger’.