Determinants of Rural Household's Food Security

Ensuring food security is one of the millennium development goals and alleviating current hunger levels is considered in many countries. Yet, 923 million individuals are undernourished globally. Furthermore based on estimations reported by United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the large majority of food-insecure individuals live in rural areas of developing and less developed countries. Therefore, study of food security among less advantage sector of population is of great concern. The purpose of this survey study was to identify determinants of food security among rural households in Kiar County, Iran. A stratified random sampling technique was used to collect data from a representative sample of wheat growers. A total of 352 farmers were interviewed using a questionnaire in 2007. A panel of experts verified face validity and a pilot study was used to assess the reliability of the measuring instrument. "Food security score" was applied to measure the degree of household's food security. The findings revealed that 53.9 percent suffered from food insecurity. Also, analysis of structural equation model indicated that per capita income, household unemployment ratio, and access to agricultural machineries are the main determinants of rural household's food security. Moreover, wheat yield and adoption level of agricultural technologies indirectly affect their food security. Therefore, enhancing total factor productivity in agriculture, improving technical efficiency of farming systems, investing more in farm machinery and equipment and developing rural non-farm economy should be considered to increase food security among rural households.