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1 – 10 of over 2000
Book part
Publication date: 12 January 2016

Madhav Regmi and Krishna P. Paudel

The purpose of this chapter is to assess the food security situation in Bangladesh based on 2011/2012 Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey data using two commonly measured food…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this chapter is to assess the food security situation in Bangladesh based on 2011/2012 Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey data using two commonly measured food security indicators: Food Consumption Score (FCS) and Household Hunger Scale (HHS).

Methodology/approach

The dependent variable in the model is a categorical variable representing different scales of food security as obtained from the FCS and HHS indicators. These categorical variables are explained by annual remittances received by the households; the demographic characteristics (age, gender, literacy level, and occupation) of the household head; and total monthly income from agricultural and non-agricultural wages using ordered probit regression models.

Findings

Results indicated that remittances play an important role in improving the food security of households. Other significant variables in the model were income earned outside of the farm, male-operated household, and literacy. Increasing income from other than the agricultural sector significantly raises the probability of a household being food secure.

Practical implications

The Government of Bangladesh should make the agriculture sector stronger at all levels of the value chain. Additionally, providing income generation opportunities for households outside of the farm can be used as a diversification measure to achieve food security within the country.

Details

Food Security in a Food Abundant World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-215-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 October 2020

Chanyalew Seyoum Aweke, Edward Lahiff, Muluken Gezahegn Wordofa and Jemal Y. Hassen

The purpose of this study is to examine household food gap and food insecurity in Eastern Ethiopia. Differences in food gap and food insecurity were also examined in terms of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine household food gap and food insecurity in Eastern Ethiopia. Differences in food gap and food insecurity were also examined in terms of gender of the household head and location.

Design/methodology/approach

A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods such as household survey, key informant interview and focused group discussion were utilized for this study. Households were drawn randomly from the study area.

Findings

In terms of food availability, more than half of the households experienced a food gap during the year, especially during the months of July and August. In terms of gender, female-headed households had more months of food shortage compared to their male counterparts. This disparity was also reflected in poorer food access among female-headed households as shown by the higher HFIAS. Differences in food insecurity were obtained in terms of gender of the household head and location. Livestock ownership, cereal crop production, extension contact and household size significantly influenced household food access.

Research limitations/implications

Findings are valid only for low-land agroecologies

Originality/value

This study contributes to the existing literature by examining household food gap and food insecurity using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. It adds value in examining disparities between male-headed and female-headed households. Literature related to seasonal household food insecurity is limited in Ethiopia. This study contributes in this regard by examining seasonal food insecurity between post-harvest and pre-harvest seasons.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 47 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2021

Veronica Njeri kariuki, Oscar Ingasia Ayuya and John Masani Nduko

Land is an emotive issue for women in Kenya, majority of who still suffer the consequences of not having access to land, leading to economic insecurity. This paper aims at…

Abstract

Purpose

Land is an emotive issue for women in Kenya, majority of who still suffer the consequences of not having access to land, leading to economic insecurity. This paper aims at examining the effects of women access to land on household nutritional outcomes among smallholder farmers in Kenya.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses primary data collected from a sample of 384 small-scale women farmers selected using multi-stage sampling technique. For data analysis, household nutritional outcomes were measured using Households Dietary Diversity Scores (HDDS) and Household Hunger Scale Scores (HHS). Stratification multilevel and matching-smoothing approach that controls for pre-treatment heterogeneity bias and treatment effect heterogeneity bias was used in estimating heterogeneous effects of women access to land.

Findings

The analysis reveals that women access to land has a significant positive effect on household nutritional outcomes. All households across all propensity scores strata benefited significantly but differently from women access to land in terms of nutritional outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

Econometrically, propensity matching technique used in computing heterogeneity effects captures selection bias due to observable characteristics but it fails to capture selection bias due to unobservable factors. However, robust strategies were employed to ensure minimal estimation bias.

Originality/value

The paper provides insights on the determinants of women access to land and the influence women access to land has on household nutritional outcomes. In addition, by employing one of the conventional impact evaluation techniques, the paper contributes to knowledge by taking into accounts the heterogeneity in the effects of women access to land on household nutritional outcomes.

Details

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-0839

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 March 2020

Akanganngang Joseph Asitik and Benjamin Musah Abu

This paper assessed the causal effect of women empowerment in agriculture (WEA) on household food security in the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) zone of Ghana.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper assessed the causal effect of women empowerment in agriculture (WEA) on household food security in the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) zone of Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used the extended probit regression with endogenous treatment to account for potential endogeneity of empowerment and food security using data from the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Feed the Future baseline survey.

Findings

All three indicators of women empowerment positively impact food security. In specific terms, when women participate in crop and livestock decision-making in the household, and when they have access to cultivable lands, their households have lower probabilities of being severely or moderately hungry. Also, crop decision-making exhibits the highest impact on food security.

Practical implications

While there may be several policy options to eradicate food insecurity challenges in Ghana, the policy measure of empowering women in agriculture needs attention. Priority should be given to empowering them in production decision-making.

Social implications

There is the need to sensitise households on the importance of women decision-making within the household and their access to land.

Originality/value

In the context of the empowerment literature, from our search, this study is the first in applying the hunger scale as a measure of food security and represents the first attempt at examining the effect of women empowerment on food security in Ghana.

Details

African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-0705

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 December 2020

Gloria Essilfie, Joshua Sebu, Samuel Kobina Annim and Emmanuel Ekow Asmah

This study adopts three dimensions of women’s empowerment: (1) relative education empowerment, (2) women's autonomy in decision-making and (3) domestic violence to examine the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study adopts three dimensions of women’s empowerment: (1) relative education empowerment, (2) women's autonomy in decision-making and (3) domestic violence to examine the effect of women’s empowerment on household food security in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed the generalised ordered logit model (GOLM) and dominance analysis using a sample of 1,017 households from the seventh round of Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS7).

Findings

The findings from the study revealed that women’s empowerment proxied by relative years of schooling and women's decision-making were important indicators for improving household food security. Further, there exist varying dimensions of women’s empowerment in households, and these dimensions have a significant effect on the state of food security of households.

Originality/value

There are a number of studies on the effect of women's empowerment on food security. However, this study contributes to the literature by examining the varying effects of different dimensions of women’s empowerment on food security. This provides policymakers with a guide that looks at different levels of women’s empowerment and the combinations of women's empowerment dimensions that contribute for reducing food insecurity.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 48 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 November 2023

Dikshit Poudel and Munisamy Gopinath

Ensuring adequate access to food to all has remained a major challenge of the 21st century. To aid the effort of hunger alleviation, many studies have quantified the prevalence of…

Abstract

Purpose

Ensuring adequate access to food to all has remained a major challenge of the 21st century. To aid the effort of hunger alleviation, many studies have quantified the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU), mostly at the national level. There has been limited attention to understanding the intra-country variation in undernourishment estimates.

Design/methodology/approach

Unlike past studies, this study tracks the substantial regional heterogeneity in the undernourishment status within Nepal. Employing Food and Agriculture Organization's methodology and Nepal Living Standards Survey data from 1995, 2003 and 2011, household energy consumption and requirements are computed to determine regional undernourishment.

Findings

Nepal's PoU declined between 1995 and 2003 but increased after 2003 affecting approximately 7.6 million Nepalese in 2011. The Terai domain – Provinces 2 and 5 – are found to be the most vulnerable to undernourishment concerns likely because of economic and natural shocks. Province 4 achieved higher progress in alleviating undernourishment during 2003, but its PoU doubled in 2011 (as in Province 6).

Research limitations/implications

By examining where and how many are undernourished within Nepal, this study has provided a more accurate picture of the PoU for better-targeting assistance to improve the livelihood of its citizens.

Originality/value

Past studies indicate substantial variation in food access and PoU within Nepal. While they provide some answers to “where and how many” questions for some districts, provinces, belts and urban/rural domains at the cross-sectional level (or for selected locales), few have examined intra-Nepal heterogeneity, especially over time. Therefore, this study explores where and how many within Nepal have been undernourished during the past three decades.

Details

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-0839

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 July 2021

Samuel Sekyi, Christopher Quaidoo and Emmanuel Agyapong Wiafe

This paper aims to analyze the effects of crop specialization on agricultural productivity and commercialization for farmers who produce high-value crops in the Northern Savannah…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the effects of crop specialization on agricultural productivity and commercialization for farmers who produce high-value crops in the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone of Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used the USAID/Ghana Feed the Future (FTF) survey, which collected data on high-value crops (i.e. maize, rice and soya). Data for the analysis consists of 2,903 farm households. The study utilized the three-stage generalized method of moment estimation technique to deal with the potential endogeneity of crop specialization within the context of productivity and commercialization and heteroscedasticity issues in the data.

Findings

The study found that crop specialization positively relates to agricultural productivity and commercialization, suggesting that increased crop specialization in the production of high-value stimulates productivity and opens market opportunities for farm households. These findings imply that crop specialization seems more beneficial to farmers as it significantly improves productivity and commercialization.

Research limitations/implications

The study was conducted in the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone of Ghana and not the entire country.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to have jointly modeled crop specialization, agricultural productivity and commercialization. The main advantage of using this system approach is that it uses more information, thereby providing more precise parameter estimates.

Details

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-0839

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 December 2019

Samuel Sekyi, Paul Bata Domanban and George Kwame Honya

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of informal credit access on agricultural productivity in rural Ghana.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of informal credit access on agricultural productivity in rural Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

Data sets from the Ghana Feed the Future baseline survey involving a total sample of 2,437 rural farm households were used. In order to address the problem of endogeneity and sample selectivity bias, the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model was employed to examine whether rural farm households’ with access to informal credit and those without access differ in terms of their productivity levels and whether access to informal credit affects agricultural productivity.

Findings

Estimates from the ESR show that access to informal credit significantly promotes agricultural productivity. Specifically, farmers with access to informal credit were able to achieve a yield of 48.42 kg/ha more than their counterparts without informal credit access. In terms of the counterfactual, farmers without informal credit access would have increased their yield by 57.61 kg/ha if they were to have access to informal credit.

Research limitations/implications

The study was restricted to the savannah ecological zone of Ghana. This limits the extent of generalisation of results.

Originality/value

This study provides a rigorous econometric analysis of the impacts of access to informal credit on agricultural productivity in rural Ghana. The study contributes to the current debate on the link between access to informal credit and agricultural productivity and provides valuable input for policymakers.

Details

African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-0705

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 January 2023

Gokul P. Paudel, Hom Gartaula, Dil Bahadur Rahut, Scott E. Justice, Timothy J. Krupnik and Andrew J. McDonald

This study examines the adoption drivers of scale-appropriate mechanization in Nepal's maize-based farming systems. The authors also assess the contribution of scale-appropriate…

2095

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the adoption drivers of scale-appropriate mechanization in Nepal's maize-based farming systems. The authors also assess the contribution of scale-appropriate mechanization to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of zero hunger (SDG2) and no poverty (SDG1).

Design/methodology/approach

Propensity score matching and doubly robust inverse probability-weighted regression adjusted methods were applied to estimate the effects of mini-tiller adoption. These methods control the biases that arise from observed heterogeneities between mini-tillers users and nonusers.

Findings

The study findings show that farm size, labor shortages, draft animal scarcity, market proximity, household assets and household heads' educational level influence the adoption of mechanization in Nepal. Mechanized farms exhibited enhanced maize productivity, profits and household food self-sufficiency. Reduced depth and severity of poverty were also observed. Nevertheless, these effects were not uniform; very small farms (≤0.41 ha) facing acute labor shortages benefited the most.

Research limitations/implications

The study results suggest that policymakers in developing nations like Nepal may wish to expand their emphasis on scale-appropriate mechanization to improve farm productivity and household food security, reduce poverty and contribute to the SDGs.

Originality/value

This first-of-its-kind study establishes the causal effects between scale-appropriate farm mechanization and SDG1 (no poverty) and SDG2 (zero hunger) in a developing nation.

Article
Publication date: 22 February 2024

Mohammed Dauda Goni, Abdulqudus Bola Aroyehun, Shariza Abdul Razak, Wuyeh Drammeh and Muhammad Adamu Abbas

This study aims to assess the household food insecurity in Malaysia during the initial phase of the movement control order (MCO) to provide insights into the prevalence and…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to assess the household food insecurity in Malaysia during the initial phase of the movement control order (MCO) to provide insights into the prevalence and predictors of food insecurity in this context.

Design/methodology/approach

The research used an online cross-sectional survey between March 28 and April 28, 2020. The study collected data from the Radimer/Cornell Hunger Scale and a food insecurity instrument. Analytical tools included chi-square and logistic regression models.

Findings

Of the 411 participating households, 54.3% were food-secure, while 45.7% experienced varying food insecurity. Among these, 29.9% reported mild hunger-associated food insecurity, 8.5% experienced individual food insecurity and 7.3% reported child hunger. The study identified predictors for food insecurity, including household income, as those with total income of < RM 2,300 had 13 times greater odds (odds ratio [OR] 13.8; confidence interval [CI] 5.9–32.1; p < 0.001) than those with income of RM 5,600, marital status as divorced (OR 4.4; 95% CI 1.0–19.9; p-value = 0.05) or married (OR 1.04; 95% CI 0.52–2.1) compared to those who are single. Self-employed respondents had three times greater odds of living in a household experiencing food insecurity (OR 3.58; 95% CI 1.6–7.7; p-value = 0.001) than those in the private sector (OR 1.48; 95% CI 0.85–2.61) or experiencing job loss (OR 1.39; 95% CI 0.62–3.1) compared with those who reported being in full-time government employment.

Research limitations/implications

This study acknowledged limitations, such as not considering various dimensions of food insecurity, such as coping strategies, nutritional support, diet quality and well-being, due to the complexity of the issue.

Practical implications

The study underscores the importance of targeted support for vulnerable groups and fostering collaborative efforts to address household food insecurity during crises like the MCOs.

Social implications

The research offers insights into how to address household food insecurity and its impact on society.

Originality/value

It identifies predictors, quantifies increased odds and emphasizes the necessity of targeted policies and collaborative approaches for fostering resilient recovery and promoting well-being in vulnerable populations.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 2000