The Impact of Soci‐economic and Cultural Factors on Refugee Households' Food Insecurity: a Snapshot of the Food security Status of Afghan Refugees in Switzerland

Abstract

Background and ObjectivesDespite the efforts of international institutions and host countries, refugees struggle to meet their basic needs throughout their displacement. Among all needs, food is one of the basics of livelihood. The objectives of this research are to evaluate the prevalence of household food insecurity of the Afghan asylum‐seekers, and identify the barriers and facilitators toward their food security.Methodology25 residents of a refugee camp, and 4 key informants participated in the study. We used a mixed methods design to allow triangulation for more reliability and credibility. Within the quantitative section of the study, a standard tool from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) food security questionnaire are used. To address the second objective we conducted a series of in‐depth interviews with semi‐structured questions.ResultsWe found severe food insecurity exists among families due to economic and cultural barriers. More than 74% of the adults, and 72% of the children are food insecure. Cultural differences, unemployment, lack of social interaction, language barriers, were indicated as the main post migration challenges. Financial struggle, lack of access to culturally accepted food, and lack of knowledge in food utilization came up as the main themes in food security related interview questions. Emerging common themes from both the family in‐depth, and key informant interviews showed lack of information and resources associated with health services and food literacy, cross cultural training, and food utilization skills.ConclusionAs a result identifying the responsible organization in the area, and further assistant and support in providing orientation, nutritional workshops, assimilation to life in Switzerland, and cross cultural training may help to improve the food security status of the asylum‐seekers. Our findings warrant further investigation in a representative sample of asylum‐seekers in Switzerland to determine the magnitude of food insecurity and associated factors, and to clarify the role of stakeholders who are involved in providing services, as well as the level of coordination and collaboration among them.Support or Funding InformationFunding for this project is provided by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) under the initiative of Culture, Migration, and Food Security (CMF) international research group.