Investigating Food Security and Analyzing Its Challenges in Rural Areas (Case Study: Villages of Bekshlochai County, Urmia County)

Access to adequate and desirable foodand nutritional health are consideredas the main axes of development and the foundation ofbreeding the next generation of the country. Rural communities playasignificant rolein ensuring the country'sfood securityby providing more than two-thirds of food.However,evidence showsthat the situation of the country's main food security providers is unfavorable,at least compared to urban communities,due to reasons that havenot been addressedso far.The present study was conducted with the generalaimof analyzing the food security situation and the factors affecting itin theruralcommunityof Bakshlochai district.The statistical population of thestudy consistsof all headsof households in51villageslocated in Bakshlochai district.Using Cochran'sformula,180 householdheadshave been selectedas the sample. Inthe quantitative part of the present study,a standard and global questionnaire of the US Department of Agriculture was used to assess food security,the validity and reliability of which have been confirmed in several studies.In the qualitative part,data collection through purposeful sampling and snowball method continueduntil the theoretical saturationstage and thecollected data were analyzed using the data theory theory(GTM).The results of thequantitative part of the research showed that food security in the study area is in unfavorable conditions.In this way,7.8%of the studied people have food security,10% in food insecurity without hunger,25% in food insecuritywith moderate hunger and 57.2% in food insecurity with severe hunger.There is no significant difference in terms of food security. Also, the results of the qualitative part f the research related to food security challengesin the studyarea showed thatthe five main food securitychallenges thatareinterrelated are:weak policy-making,weak economicconditions,inadequacies And environmental hazards,cultural barriers and social change and agricultural instability