Offline and hungry: the effect of internet use on the food insecurity of Indonesian agricultural households

Abstract

Food insecurity is essential since its prevalence may hinder an individual or an economy from developing. The issue still lacks attention in Indonesia, as reflected in the lagging efforts to reduce food insecurity. Meanwhile, several previous studies have found that increasing internet access may decrease food insecurity. Using a sample of 140,892 agricultural households from the National Socioeconomic Survey data, this study uses quantitative measures to evaluate the effects of internet use on the food insecurity of Indonesian agricultural households. The present study uses raw and Rasch scores to measure food insecurity, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale question items. To estimate the effect of internet use on food insecurity, this study uses the two-stage least square estimation with topography as the instrumental variable, which is important due to the existence of an endogeneity problem. The present research also evaluates the possible mediating effect between internet use and food insecurity through households’ per capita income. Findings reveal that internet use negatively affects agricultural households’ food insecurity. This study also demonstrates that internet use can lower food insecurity in agricultural households through the mediating effects of income. From these results, policy implications are as follows; prioritization of internet infrastructure in remote areas, dissemination of information to enhance the production of agricultural households, and efforts to increase internet use among agricultural households.