Nutrition Security Status Research Articles

Determinants of nutrition security status of women in rural households in Northwest Ethiopia

The nutrition security of women is critically important for society’s well-being. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the determinants of the nutrition security status of rural women in Northwest Ethiopia. Data collected from rural women in 197 randomly selected households were analyzed using a binary logit regression model. The results show that 72.6% of the women are nutritionally insecure. The determinants that significantly affect nutrition security status are family size (a negative effect), women’s daily feed frequency, milk consumption, feeding habits of fruits and vegetables, feeding habits of animal products, and women empowerment (all positive effects). The weight, height, and BMI of nutritionally insecure women were significantly lower than those of nutritionally secure women. These findings reveal the need for government and other stakeholders’ interventions to increase access to nutritious food products and to provide training on feeding culture and dietary diversity to women. The findings of this study can help the Government of Ethiopia to focus on the significant determinants to achieve its National Development Priorities focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN, particularly Goals 2, 3, and 5.

Food (in)security in relation to nutrition (in)security in a national cross-sectional sample of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants: considerations of an emerging construct

BackgroundFood insecurity, lack of access to sufficient food for an active, healthy life, is a persistent problem in the United States. Recently, nutrition security has emerged as a new concept. However, limited research exists examining how nutrition security relates to the established concept of food security. ObjectivesThis study assessed a recent metric of nutrition security and explored how well it describes the underlying construct among a sample of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants. We examined the correlation between food and nutrition security and demographic predictors of joint food and nutrition security status. MethodsWe conducted a national, web-based survey (Qualtrics; 30 September–19 October, 2022) in English and Spanish of adults aged ≥18 y (n = 1454) who reported receiving SNAP benefits in the past 12 mo. We measured food security using the US Department of Agriculture 6-item Food Security Survey and assessed nutrition security using the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition Household Nutrition Security measure. We used multinominal logistic regression to examine demographic predictors of food and nutrition security. ResultsThe majority (80.4%) of SNAP participants experienced food insecurity, and 59.1% reported experiencing nutrition insecurity. Food and nutrition security were moderately correlated (0.41); 55.6% of SNAP participants were both food and nutrition insecure, 3.5% were food secure but nutrition insecure, 24.8% were food insecure but nutrition secure, and 16.1% were both food and nutrition secure. Of SNAP participants, 24.8% reported experiencing food insecurity but not nutrition insecurity. Hispanic ethnicity and Southern residence were associated with joint food and nutrition insecurity. ConclusionsThese findings raise questions about how nutrition security is conceptualized and measured and its added value beyond existing food security measurement scales. Further research is needed to understand differences in food and nutrition security experiences and risk factors and determine a validated definition and measure of nutrition security for future policy solutions.

Pulses in Uttarakhand: Has Their Potential Been Tapped Enough to Attain Food and Nutritional Security?

Background: Malnutrition is a global health crisis and Uttarakhand state is no exception. Besides the implementation of various government schemes for eradication of undernutrition is at very slow pace calls for analyzing the present situation and future prospects of food crops. In this regard, Uttarakhand a hilly state with many agricultural constraints needs special attention. Pulses known for rich protein and micronutrient content can serve as an excellent source for mitigating protein deficiency and attaining food and nutrition security. Various pulses in different cropping pattern are being grown in the state. The current study aims at exploring the dynamics, diversification and decomposition of pulses in Uttarakhand and their role in providing food and nutritional security. Methods: Secondary data related to area under pulses, production and yield were taken from official website of Agriculture department, Government of Uttarakhand. The data gaps were filled through linear interpolation. Production of total pulses was linearly extrapolated to estimate pulses production for 2035-36. Growth and instability, diversification and decomposition of pulses were analyzed. The Food and Nutritional security statistics were taken from directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Uttarakhand and explored in relation to pulses. Result: It was found that the state is faring well in production of pulses as an increase in absolute area, production, yield and proportion of pulses in gross sown area was observed. High pulse diversification was seen. However, a decline in all major pulse-based cropping systems was seen. Moreover, in the state, where 31% of the population lacks adequate protein intake, there is a pressing need to enhance the availability, accessibility and absorption of protein-rich pulses, particularly for vegetarians. Additionally, it is essential to reevaluate the state’s food and nutrition security status in alignment with the updated guidelines from ICMR-NIN in 2020.

Drivers of food and nutrition security during the lean period in southeastern Madagascar

The rural population in southeastern Madagascar faces widespread poverty and weak resilience to frequent climate shocks, both contributing to severe food and nutrition insecurity. For effective policy responses and tailored interventions, development stakeholders need to know which factors determine household food and nutrition security status. In particular, the relative contributions of on-farm production diversity versus cash income are of importance since they would suggest different intervention priorities. We collected survey data on household food security and women's diets during the lean season, where improvements are most needed, as well as on households' agricultural activities, market participation, and sources of cash income from 413 randomly sampled households. Regression results suggest that frequent market participation and cash income from non-farm self-employment improve food security, but on-farm diversity does not. Other determinants of household food security include livestock assets and maternal education. Women's dietary diversity, in contrast, is associated only with market participation. The importance of market participation for food and nutrition security reflects the situation in the lean period, when farm production is low and many households' food supply relies, in part, on market purchases enabled by non-agricultural income. Our findings imply that a focus on developing food markets and enabling opportunities for income generation are likely viable strategies for improving the rural food and nutrition security situation during the lean period in southeastern Madagascar. Relatively food- and nutrition-secure households are characterized by their ability to mobilize cash (e.g., from non-farm self-employment) to purchase food.

Effect of market participation on the food and nutrition security status of the rural smallholder farmers: the case of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, South Africa

IntroductionHunger and malnutrition remain serious issues in developing countries, particularly in rural regions. Increased market participation of smallholder farmers can result in improved livelihood and nutrition outcomes. However, smallholder farmers encounter several obstacles that hinder their ability to participate in the market. As a result, the objective of this study is to investigate the factors that influence market participation and its impact on household nutrition security.MethodsThe study relied on secondary data gathered from a sample size of 1,520 people. About 389 of smallholder farmers participated in the market.Results and DiscussionThe results from Food Consumption Score (FSC) cut-off points showed that in the overall sample households, 54% were within the acceptable food consumption diets (>35), while 30 and 16% were in the borderline (21.5–35) and poor diets (0–21), respectively. According to the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) findings, 57% of smallholder farmers in the total population sample consumed highly diverse diets (consisting of at least six food groups), while 25 and 18% of smallholder farmers consumed diets with medium dietary diversity (consisting of 4–5 food groups) and low dietary diversity (consisting of at most three food groups), respectively. The results from marginal analysis showed that gender of household head, receiving social grants and higher wealth index had a positive impact on market participation. The results from Poisson endogenous treatment effect model showed that household size, ownership of livestock, social grant, wealth index, access to market information, and involvement in crop production had a positive and statistically significant impact on household nutrition security. On the other hand, agricultural assistance showed a negative and significant impact on household nutrition security.Conclusion and RecommendationsIt can be concluded that an improvement in agricultural assistance can improve the household nutrition security status. The improvement of agricultural assistance is more associated with improvement of extension services, which can lead to more production of diverse crops and more market participation. Health extension workers need to do more nutrition programs and workshops in rural areas. These programs and workshops will be intended on providing nutrition education, which will create awareness to smallholder farmers on diverse and balanced food items they should produce, sell, and consume.

COVID‐19 pandemic, farming households' food and nutrition security, and response strategies in Ghana, West Africa

AbstractWe explored the association between COVID‐19 disruptions and food and nutrition security, including the various coping strategies adopted by farming households in Ghana. The different COVID‐19 shocks experienced and coping strategies implemented by farming households are identified through focus group discussions. A multistage random sampling method was used to survey 252 farming households, and data were analyzed using different regression techniques. We observe no significant differences in the food and nutrition security status of male‐ and female‐headed households, while the COVID‐19 disruptions affected male‐headed households more than female‐headed households. Our data shows a higher vulnerability of urban households to food and nutrition insecurity than rural households, with the COVID‐19 disruptions affecting urban households more than rural households. We find that the COVID‐19 disruptions pushed households to reduce their frequency of food consumption, consume less diverse diets, and hinder their adoption of coping strategies. Hence, responses that aim to strengthen farming households' frequency of consumption of essential food groups and access to nutritional and healthy diets are crucial to either help maintain or improve farming households' food and nutrition security during shocks such as COVID‐19 in Ghana.

Food and nutrition security status in Southwest region of Ethiopia: Evidence from Kaffa zone

Hunger eradication as being one of the sustainable development goal and critical contributor for economic growth, the extent of poverty and food insecurity had become the limiting factor not to achieve these goals because of different constraints. Therefore, the current study investigated the status and determinants of food and nutrition security in one of Ethiopian zones encountered with an alarming trend of productivity decline but endowed with different natural resources which is Kaffa zone of Southwest region. The finding generally implies, large proportion of households who were food secured were also nutrition secured, compared to their counters. Unlikely, lager proportions of nutrition secured households were found to be food insecure but from the entire nutrition non-secured households, small proportion of them were found to be food insecure. The study further indicates that, 65.87% and 87.11% of the entire households were food and nutrition secured, respectively. This implies that, though there is low production and productivity of crops in the study area which affects food security status of the household due to minimized daily calorie intake, it is rich in the availability of different edible crops that constitute for boosting dietary diversity and food consumption score which results in nutrition security. Among the main constraining factors of food and nutrition security found using logit model, sex of the household head, family size, education level of the household head, land size, irrigation, livestock holding, off-farm and non-farm activities are the core and significant in the study area. Thus, improving access to irrigation, introducing off/non-farm activities for the households through promoting better credit facility via the establishment of adequate rural financial institutions, promoting family planning and enhancing the existing livestock veterinary services can be considered as a panacea to improve both food and nutrition security of the rural households in the study area.

The determinants of crop productivity and its effect on food and nutrition security in rural communities of South Africa.

High crop productivity has the potential to improve the food and nutrition security status of not only smallholder farmers but also households in general. However, smallholder farmers operate in a dynamic environment whereby their crop production is affected by various factors that hinder it from lessening food insecurity and malnutrition in rural areas. The study investigated the determinants of crop productivity and its effect on household food and nutrition security status in South Africa. This study employed a quantitative research method. A total of 1520 households were selected using the multi-stage stratified random sampling technique. Out of the total sample size of 1520, 386 were crop producers, 176 producers were from Mpumalanga province, and 210 producers were from the Limpopo province. Most of the smallholder farmers do not have access to the irrigation system, mechanization, and agricultural inputs. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale showed that most smallholder farmers were food insecure, with 78% of the farmers in each province found to be food insecure. The results from Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) showed that in the overall sampled population, 50% of smallholder farmers had highly diverse diets. Only 50% of the smallholder farmers had high dietary diversity in each province. Irrigation systems and involvement in crop production had a positive influence on the crop productivity of smallholder farmers. The results from the Conditional Mixed Process (CMP) model showed that ownership of livestock, harvest, and disability in the family negatively impacted smallholder farmers' food security status while household size had a positive effect on the food security of smallholder farmers. The results also showed that social grants, agricultural assistance, and harvest had a negative impact on the nutrition status of smallholder farmers. While household size had a positive impact on the nutrition status of smallholder farmers. Factors such as irrigation systems and involvement in crop production influenced crop productivity. Household size influenced the nutritional status of smallholder farmers while harvest size affected the food security status. There is a need to encourage more households to get involved in farming. Government and nongovernmental organizations need to support smallholder farmers with agricultural productive resources like irrigation systems to improve their crop productivity.

An Empirical Assessment Of Poverty, Food Security And Nutritional Status Of Former Enclave People In A Selected Area Of Bangladesh

This article empirically investigates poverty, food security and nutritional status of selected former enclave households. Binary logistic regression was carried out to find out the factors affecting food security of the households. Following simple random sampling technique, a sample of 80 households from two villages of Dibiganj upazila of Panchagarh district of Bangladesh was surveyed in January 2020. On an average, they consumed 20 food items of which their daily per capita intake was 1414.52 gm. Mean of daily per capita protein and calorie intake was 63.14 gm. and 1619.67 Kcal, respectively. Rice occupied the major contributing source of protein and calorie intake as per capita consumption of rice was highest among all other food items (609.35 gm.). Among the respondents, 61.25% belonged to ultra-poor following by hard core poor (20%) and absolute poor (7.5%). Based on FCS, 81.25% of them were in poor diet clusters but consequently 91.25% of them belonged to high dietary diversity as indicated by household dietary diversity score. Assessment of CSI and HFIAS indicated that most of the sample households were suffering from moderately to severely food insecure. But based on MAHFP, 20% of the respondents were found to be food insecure as they had food provisioning for 0- 9 months out of 12 months. At the same time, 51.25% of the sample households were underweight based on their BMI. There was no household member whose physical feature was found to be obese based on BMI characterization. The result of the binary logistic regression shows that food security is positively correlated with total land size and family consumption of food. So, diversification of crop production and diversification of family consumption can be the recommended steps for the enclaves’ households to upgrade their food and nutrition security status
 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 46(4): 353-372, December 2021

Adesão à dieta EAT-Lancet e sua relação com insegurança alimentar e renda em uma amostra de base populacional brasileira

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the relation of adherence to the planetary diet with food and nutrition security status and per capita household income in a study with a representative sample of the Brazilian population. Among the data from the 2017-2018 Brazilian Household Budgets Survey (POF), the inequality indicators selected for the analysis were data on per capita household income and food and nutrition security. We also considered data on the individual food consumption of 46,164 Brazilians aged ≥ 10 years, obtained through 24-hour dietary recalls, in the National Food Survey, conducted with the POF 2017-2018. The Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI) was used to measure adherence to the planetary diet. Sociodemographic data were expressed as frequency (%), with analysis of the mean and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) of the PHDI score. The relation of food and nutrition security and income with the PHDI score was tested in multiple linear regression models. The calculations were performed in the Stata software, adopting a 5% significance. Lower PHDI means were observed among food insecure individuals, male, < 20 years old, mixed-race and indigenous, with income < 0.5 minimum wage, residing in rural areas and in the North and Northeast regions. In the multiple linear regression, food insecurity was inversely related to PHDI score (ꞵ = -0.56; 95%CI: -1.06; -0.06), with the lowest scores associated with severe food insecurity (β = -1.31; 95%CI: -2.19; -0.55). Income categories were not independently associated to PHDI score (p-trend = 0.900). Therefore, food insecurity has been shown to negatively affect Brazilians’ adherence to the planetary diet.

Adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet and its relation with food insecurity and income in a Brazilian population-based sample.

This study aimed to investigate the relation of adherence to the planetary diet with food and nutrition security status and per capita household income in a study with a representative sample of the Brazilian population. Among the data from the 2017-2018 Brazilian Household Budgets Survey (POF), the inequality indicators selected for the analysis were data on per capita household income and food and nutrition security. We also considered data on the individual food consumption of 46,164 Brazilians aged ≥ 10 years, obtained through 24-hour dietary recalls, in the National Food Survey, conducted with the POF 2017-2018. The Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI) was used to measure adherence to the planetary diet. Sociodemographic data were expressed as frequency (%), with analysis of the mean and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) of the PHDI score. The relation of food and nutrition security and income with the PHDI score was tested in multiple linear regression models. The calculations were performed in the Stata software, adopting a 5% significance. Lower PHDI means were observed among food insecure individuals, male, < 20 years old, mixed-race and indigenous, with income < 0.5 minimum wage, residing in rural areas and in the North and Northeast regions. In the multiple linear regression, food insecurity was inversely related to PHDI score (ꞵ = -0.56; 95%CI: -1.06; -0.06), with the lowest scores associated with severe food insecurity (β = -1.31; 95%CI: -2.19; -0.55). Income categories were not independently associated to PHDI score (p-trend = 0.900). Therefore, food insecurity has been shown to negatively affect Brazilians' adherence to the planetary diet.

THE SOCIOECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL SECURITY IN RURAL AND URBAN AREA OF PAKISTAN DURING COVID-19

Food insecurity and health is turning out to be one of the biggest issues of the world especially in the pandemic. Developing countries are particularly affected badly from the problem of food insecurity and malnutrition. Food and nutrition (macro and micro nutrition) status was assessed by using the calories and nutrition intake method in the rural and urban areas of district Faisalabad and food security index was used to estimate the absolute food security status. Primary data set about 500 households were collected from the rural and urban areas. The results show that calories and macronutrient’s security status was better in the urban areas while the situation of micro nutrients was better in rural areas. It was found 49 percent households in rural areas and 43 percent households in urban areas were food and nutrition secure. The impact of covid-19 was evident in urban areas especially in low-income households and people who earn daily wages. The regression analysis showed that prevalence of disease, Education, household income, family size, number daily intake meals, age of household head and land size were significant impact on the food and nutrition security status in both rural and urban areas.

An Evaluation of Nutritional Security Impacts of Climate-Smart Adaptation Practices among Smallholder Farmers of Eastern Oromia, Ethiopia

Climate impact mitigation through improved agricultural practices is one means by which agricultural productivity increases to meet the growing food demands in the world. This study evaluated the impacts of climate-smart Practices on rural households’ nutrition security. The study used both primary and secondary data sources. Primary data was collected from sample respondents in the 2020/21 production year. Descriptive statistics and econometric models were employed for data analysis. Multinomial logit result indicated that the probability of adopting climate-smart agricultural practices is influenced by the education level of the head, extension contact, livestock holding, membership coop, market information, advice on land management, climate change information, farmers training, climate change perception, and weather road distance. The result from GPS estimation indicated that treatment level two the number of climate-smart practices increases household nutritional status by16%. Likewise, treatment level three and four of the number of climate-smart practices increases the household level nutritional status by 37% and 76% respectively over that of treatment level one of the climate-smart practices and is significant at a 1% statistical probability level. This study has found evidence that the adoption of climate-smart on the households’ nutrition security status. Therefore, the result of this study would be expected to significantly contribute as policy and strategic inputs for policymakers in designing rural livelihood improvement policies and to the beneficiary in enhancing their welfare and living standard.

Evaluation of food and nutrition security status of Nigeria preschool children towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 1,2,3 - A review

Child nutrition is essential to any country's food and nutrition security status. It goes beyond food security to encompass all the components of child well-being and cognitive development. It includes infant and young child feeding practices, care practices, and hygiene. Africa accounts for the highest prevalence of child malnutrition and mortality worldwide. The complexity and interconnectedness of the components of child nutrition in developing countries are yet to be well conceptualized. Due to a high poverty rate, economic shock, and conflicts in many sub-Sahara countries like Nigeria. Nigeria, the most populated country in this region, records a high prevalence of child malnutrition, morbidity, and mortality. High poverty, poor policies, poor dietary intake, and care practices among households have become a significant concern and a public health issue, especially as the country navigates toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 and the Africa agenda 2063. This review brings home the contributions of the multidimensional drivers of child nutrition to Nigerian children's overall health outcomes and food security status. In addition, it proffers possible solutions to these challenges to ensure the attainment of both the SDGs and Africa agenda indicators that address hunger, poverty, and the overall well-being of children. The study also emphasizes the importance of optimal nutrition to ensure that children reach their full potential, reduce the risk of childhood illness and chronic diseases in adulthood, and ultimately contribute significantly to the nation's labour force, productivity, and gross domestic product (GDP). Therefore, the study explores available online resources, peer-reviewed articles, books, and relevant reports from official websites that identify the drivers of children’s food and nutrition security status from Nigeria's perspective. Overall, in Nigeria, most preschool children do not consume sufficiently safe and nutritious diets for optimal growth and development; hence, they are just surviving but not thriving. Key words: Childhood, nutrition, preschool, components, pandemic, children, SDGs, Nigeria

The Household Food Security and Feeding Pattern of Preschool Children in North-Central Nigeria.

Children’s feeding patterns and health outcomes are important determinants of any country’s food and nutrition security status. This study assessed the household food security and feeding patterns of preschoolers in Niger State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional descriptive design and a multi-stage sampling technique were employed to analyze 450 preschool children from selected local government areas. Household food security was measured using the HFIAS nine-item questionnaire, and feeding patterns were evaluated using the qualitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The mean age of the preschoolers was 3.71 ± 0.80 years. A majority (61.30%) of the children consumed cereal-based products, while fruits and vegetables were the least consumed (16.40%). More than half (59.80%) of the preschoolers met their minimum dietary diversity. Almost all (98.80%) of the children were from food-insecure households, with 40.3% being severely food insecure. Parity, religion, and having a breadwinner and source of potable water were significantly associated with the adequacy of minimum dietary diversity (MDD) among the preschoolers (F value = 5.528, p ≤ 0.05). The contribution of poor feeding patterns and household food insecurity to the overall health outcome of preschoolers cannot be overlooked. Hence, nations must prioritize improving the availability, accessibility, and utilization of food to better meet the nutritional needs of preschool children.

The socio-economic situation, food and nutrition insecurity in the Republic of Benin during the COVID-19 pandemic

Food and nutrition security is about promoting rights to access sufficient, quality food without compromising other essential needs. The measures of social distancing, the paralysis of non-essential economic activities imposed to control the pandemic of COVID-19 caused disruptions in food production and supply chains worldwide. The study aimed to assess the food and nutrition security status of households in the Republic of Benin and also the socioeconomic situation during the pandemic. The results showed that the COVID-19 pandemic increased the levels of poverty and food insecurity in Benin. Overall more than 50% of the participants were living on only one minimum wage or less and more than 50% were living in acute food insecurity including families with children. The central region of the country was the most affected by food insecurity followed by the northern region. There was a lack or low intervention of regional, economic and social policies to maintain jobs and guarantee food for the affected families. More governmental or non-governmental policies are needed to ensure food and nutritional security for low-income families.

Adoption of Improved Maize Varieties as a Sustainable Agricultural Intensification in Eastern Ethiopia: Implications for Food and Nutrition Security

This paper examines factors determining farmers‘ adoption decision for improved maize varieties in the maize-common bean intercropping practices in two districts of East Hararghe zone, Eastern Ethiopia. It is based on data collected from 129 farm households using structured questionnaire. Descriptive results revealed that adopters of improved maize varieties had better food and nutrition security status. Furthermore, logit model output indicated that the decision to adopt improved maize varieties is influenced by location (district) dummy, education status of the household head, age of the household head, distance from the main road, and the number of plots owned. Major recommendations include improving the rural road infrastructure, educating and training farmers, organizing experience sharing events among farmers, and raising awareness about the food and nutrition security benefits of sustainable agricultural intensification practices like intercropping improved maize with improved common bean varieties.

Measuring and Mapping Disaggregate Level Disparities in Food Consumption and Nutritional Status via Multivariate Small Area Modelling

Although India has progressed significantly on several health outcomes but the state of food and nutrition security in the country still requires sustained efforts to accelerate achievement. Existing data based on socio-economic surveys conducted by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) produce precise measures of food and nutrition security status at state and national level. However, these surveys cannot be used directly to produce reliable district or further smaller domain level estimates because of small sample sizes which lead to high level of sampling variability. Decentralized administrative planning system in India demands the availability of disaggregate (e.g. district) level statistics for target oriented effective policy planning and monitoring, as food and nutrition security is often unevenly distributed among the subsets of relatively small areas. But, due to lack of district level estimates, the mapping and analyse related to food and nutrition security measures are restricted to state and national level. As a result, disaggregate level dissimilarity and variability existing in food and nutrition security are often masked. This article delineates multivariate small area estimation (SAE) technique to obtain reliable and representative estimates of food consumption and nutrition status at district level for the rural areas of state of Uttar Pradesh in India by combining latest round of available Household Consumer Expenditure Survey 2011–2012 data of NSSO and the Indian Population Census 2011. The empirical evidence indicate that the estimates generated by SAE approach are reliable and representative. Spatial maps showing district level inequality in distribution of food and nutrition security in Uttar Pradesh is also produced. The disaggregate level estimates and spatial maps of food and nutrition security are directly relevant to sustainable development goal indicator 2.1.2—severity of food insecurity. The estimates and maps of food insecurity indictors are anticipated to offer irreplaceable information to administrative decision-makers and policy experts for identifying the regions requiring more attention. Government of India has recently launched number of schemes for the benefit of rural population in the country and these estimates will be useful for fund allocation as well as in the monitoring of these schemes.

Modelling the Factors Influencing Urban Households Food and Nutrition Security Status

There was a rapid migration from poor rural areas to swollen urban areas in search of better jobs and life. While some local immigrants have managed to find a better life, most immigrants cannot guarantee the improvement of the quality of life as they hoped. It has become a nightmare of economic and food insecurity. A study was conducted to determine factors affecting food availability, accessibility and affordability for families in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A survey is used to obtain information from 240 households. The Food insecurity Index is used to analyze the state of food insecurity in the study area. Foster, Greer, and Thorbecke (FGT) weighted poverty index was adopted to analyze the incidence and severity of Hunger. Tobit Regression Model is used to analyze household food security determinants. Results of analyses show that hunger is lower in families of skilled workers and higher in families with unskilled workers. The result further showed that the incidence of food insecurity and hunger was 0.61 and directly related to family size. The most critical factors influencing food security are education level, household income level, family size, access to credit facilities, distance to the nearest market, and location of residence. Policies aimed at improving living standards in rural areas are wise policy decisions to prevent conquest of the village.

Factors influencing food consumption diversity among farming households in selected states in southwestern Nigeria

The dietary practices of households have significant repercussions on the quality of life of its members. Dietary practice generally shows the types and variety of food intake and is extremely reliant on the socio-demographic characteristics. Dietary diversity has beenpositively associated with the four pillars of food security and all dietary guidelines propose consuming a large variety of foods, across and within major food groups. This paper focuses on the influence of socioeconomic factors on household-level food consumption diversity (FCD) in Nigeria. Since the majority of Nigerians (70 per cent) live in rural areas, an analysis of the food and nutrition security status of rural dwellers will provide a clear picture of what needs to be done to assure food security. A multistage sampling technique was employed for the selection of respondents from a random sample of households proportionate to the size of three states in the south-western agricultural zone of Nigeria, and primary data were collected using an interview guide. The analytical tools used were descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, mean food consumption diversity index and multinomial logit regression model. The results showed that there were significant differences in the socio-economic attributes of farming households in the area of study. Also, farming households (78.9%) in the south-west had a moderate level of FCD; only 8.2% of the farming households had high FCD level and the balance only having a poor FCD. Distance to market, access to information on price, household size, income and farm size were positively and significantly influencing FCD in the study area. However, expenditure on legumes decreases the ability of householdsto attain higher food consumption diversity in the study area. It is recommended that government should make food markets more accessible to farmers, disseminating information on prices of food through modern systems and educate farmers on productivity through extension services in order to generate more income to achieve high FCD. Key words: Food Groups, Consumption Diversity, Farming Household, Diversity Index, Nigeria