The nexus between food insecurity and socioeconomic characteristics of rural households in Western Indonesia identified with Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance´s approach by USAID
¹Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Department of Economics and Development, Kamýcká 129, Prague 6, CZ 16521, Czech Republic
²Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kamýcká 129, Prague 6, CZ 16521, Czech Republic
³Institut Teknologi Del, Faculty of Biotechnology and Agricultural Engineering, Jl. Sisingamangaraja, Laguboti, North Sumatra, ID 22381, Indonesia
⁴Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Department of Sustainable Technologies, Kamýcká 129, Prague 6, CZ 16521, Czech Republic
*Correspondence: valesoval@ftz.czu.cz
Abstract:
This study investigated correlation and regression analyses designed to asses the respective relationships between the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale/ Prevalence (HFIAS/ HFIAP) as a measure of food access, the Household Dietary Diversity Score, the Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning (MAHFP) as a measure of food stability and (i) gender, (ii) education level, (iii) household income and (iv) agricultural strategies of households in North Sumatra province. Cross-sectional survey was conducted in Tobasa and Samosir Regency and its purpose was (1) to assess the food security status of rural households (N = 192), (2) to identify the influence of selected factors on their food security condition and (3) to deliver outcomes which might play an important role in establishing appropriate policies and intervention strategy to prevent and reduce food insecurity. Due to the proven applicability in many studies, Food and Nutrition Technical Assitance’s method was implemented for the comprehensive household food security analysis. The findings showed that 51.6% (n = 99) households were considered as moderately or severely food insecure, 18.8% of the sample as mildly food insecure (n = 36) and less than a third (n = 57) of households was food secure. Further analysis investigated the correlation between household food security status and selected variables. The results higlighted the role of rural education, agriculture extension services, creation of employment opportunities and improved dietary diversity in reducing household food insecurity.
Key words:
Dietary Diversity, Food Access, Food Insecurity, Indonesia