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Food insecurity in urban poor households in Mumbai, India
Abstract
India ranks 66th of 88 countries in the Global Hunger Index and has a quarter of the world’s hungry. Food security status of 377 million inhabitants of India’s urban areas, of which one-fourth live in extreme poverty, is poorly documented. The purpose of this study was to determine (a) the extent of food insecurity among households in urban slums, (b) to quantitatively assess their subjective experiences related to food insecurity and (c) to identify sub-groups among the urban poor that are vulnerable to food insecurity. A cross-sectional, interviewer-administered survey of adult female respondents from 283 households, selected using two-stage cluster sampling, was conducted in slums across three municipal wards in the city of Mumbai. Food insecurity, as measured by the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), was found in a large number of households in the urban slums of Mumbai; 59.7 % (n = 169) households were categorized as severely food-insecure, 16.6 % (n = 47) as mildly to moderately food-insecure, and 23.7 % (n = 67) as food-secure. Further analysis revealed that severe food insecurity was significantly associated with lower monthly household income and other socioeconomic status measures such as lower household monthly per capita income, lower rank in the standard of living index (SLI) and less monthly per capita expense on food items. Households where the woman was the primary income-earner and contributed the largest share to the monthly household income, and was older, less educated, with less media use or access were more likely to experience severe food insecurity. Although corrective steps at the household level such as livelihood security schemes and income generation programs are necessary, they will not be sufficient to eliminate this problem; state intervention is required in order to assure food security for the urban poor. The Government of India has drafted a Food Security Bill; but the criteria for determining which households are vulnerable and deserving are still being debated. The findings of this study highlight the urgency of corrective action and also provide pointers for the identification of vulnerable or priority sub-groups. Food security policies and programs have to be implemented immediately and effectively in order to ensure that subsidies and food items are allocated to the households of the vulnerable urban poor.
... Some of the nine questions inquire about the food vulnerability and stress such as 'Did you worry that your household would not have enough food or money to buy food?', while others ask about behavioural responses of the household to food insecurity such as 'Did you or any member in the household have to eat a smaller meal than felt because there was not enough food?'. This subjective method has widely being used in global studies to identify the vulnerability of households in accessing the food (Chatterjee et al., 2012;Labadarios et al., 2011). The current study examines the perception of households on different aspects of their food insecurity status using an adapted version of HFIAS. ...
... Thus, this measure focuses mainly on access aspect of food security. Recently, various studies have worked on this method in their local cultural settings (Chatterjee et al., 2012;Labadarios et al., 2011) and even some countries have used it as food insecurity assessment tool in their national schemes (Melgar-Quiñónez & Hackett, 2008). However, a number of other studies found problems in the ordering of questions (Deaton, 2012) and comparability with other indicators (Headey, 2013). ...
... This study also finds a high magnitude of food insecurity among lower socio-economic groups, which is also consistent and correlated with the results of other studies (Mohammadi et al., 2012), including some on India. For instance, studies on urban poor households ascertained that low monthly per capita income was one of the significant predictor variables of food insecurity (Chatterjee et al., 2012) and as the socio-economic status lowers down, the prevalence of any form of food insecurity is more likely to increase (Gopichandran et al., 2010). ...
The discourse on food security in India has concentrated upon availability and accessibility of cereals, neglecting the nutritional significance of fruits, vegetables and meat food products. This article attempts to assess the food security level both quantitatively and qualitatively, and level of dietary diversity among socio-economic groups. A cross sectional survey covering 304 households selected through stratified and proportional random sampling methods was conducted in six villages of Uttar Pradesh, India in 2013–2014. Household Food Insecurity Access Scale and Dietary Diversity approach were used to indicate food security. Subjective assessment highlights that despite sufficient availability of food, most of the households were unable to eat the quality of food they preferred. Findings also show predominant concentration of diet towards cereals, milk, root and tuber food products. Muslims, scheduled caste, labourers and households with lower wealth index consumed a less diversified diet, which is statistically significant. This article provides important insights into the strength and limitations of food policy measures and underlines the need to move beyond the dominant cereal-based interventions for food security in emerging economies like India.
JEL Code: Q18
... [14][15][16] Bittencourt et al. encontraram em seu estudo, no município de Salvador, em 2007, IA em 71,3% dos domicílios particulares de famílias de escolares da rede pública. 14 Estudos realizados em outros países como Nigéria e Índia, com perfil socioeconômico similar ao do Brasil, vêm demonstrando elevada prevalência de IA. 17,18 Segundo a FAO, 805 milhões de pessoas no mundo estariam em situação de fome crônica, o que caracteriza a forma mais grave da insegurança alimentar. 9 Neste estudo, evidenciou-se, na análise geral, que a maioria dos munícipios baianos estão em IA e somente dois estão em situação de SAN. ...
... Chatterjee observou resultados semelhantes em estudo que revelou que a insegurança alimentar grave foi significativamente associada com menor renda familiar mensal e outras medidas de status socioeconômicos. 17 A dimensão de AA é muito complexa e se relaciona com aspectos socioeconômicos e físicos que interferem na aquisição de alimentos pela população/família, englobando assim a disponibilidade de recursos para aquisição de alimentos e todas as necessidades básicas para a garantia de SAN, além dos fatores que afetam os recursos disponíveis. 9,19 Houve, neste estudo, associação entre a situação de IA na dimensão de Acesso aos Alimentos e o IDHM de municípios do Estado da Bahia. ...
... No estudo de Chatterjee, as famílias chefiadas por mulheres, cuja maior parcela da renda advém de pessoas menos escolarizadas, estavam mais propensas à insegurança alimentar grave. 17 A escolaridade da população influencia na escolha e preparo dos alimentos, e principalmente na capacitação para alcançar uma melhor remuneração no trabalho, que, por sua vez, possibilitaria maior acesso aos alimentos. 4 Estudos vêm demonstrando que a renda é diretamente proporcional à escolaridade. ...
Objective: To evaluate the situation of food and nutrition security at the municipalities of Bahiastate and the main determinants in the dimension of access to food. Methods: We used a protocol of indicators that evaluates food and nutrition security covering four dimensions (availability, food access, food consumption and biological use of nutrients). Secondary data on Bahia municipalities (available in public online databases) were used. Prevalence measures were calculated and associations were verified between the variables of the study. Results: In the municipalities evaluated, it was noted that 119 municipalities (28.7%) were in light Food Insecurity and 286 (69.1%) were in moderate Food Insecurity. For the AccesstoFood dimension, there was a predominance of moderate Food Insecurity (71.5%), and the indicators thatcontributed most to this situation were the proportion of people with low income and percentage of population aged 15 years or more and less than 4 years of schooling. There was a significant association between Food Insecurity in the municipalities, considering all dimensions and the status of Food Insecurity at the dimension of Access to Food (p
... Among the strategies common in most households which are used as means to ensure continuous access to food include skipping of meals, begging for food, reducing the number of meals taken per day, eating less food than household members felt they should, sharing of meals with neighbours, sleeping without food, resorting to remittances for food, reducing/cutting size of meals, engaging in urban farming, resorting to informal markets for 'cheaper' food, looking for jobs (casual jobs), among other strategies (Gunawardhana & Ginigaddara, 2021;Leduka et al., 2015;Raimundo et al., 2014;Tawodzera, 2012). Chatterjee et al. (Chatterjee et al., 2012) found that these coping mechanisms are also employed in India (Mumbai) during food shortages and found that a larger proportion (52%) of households reduce their meals when they are faced with insufficient food supply. Others (49%) were found to eat less meals, while some (56%) would prefer to sleep on an empty stomach anytime there is insufficient food. ...
... These include borrowing food, which was found to be done by 43% of the surveyed households in Harare while 41% of households survived through this strategy also in Maseru (Leduka et al., 2015;Tawodzera, 2010Tawodzera, , 2012. This is not a unique feature for African cities, but also common in other cities in countries of the global South such as Mumbai where it was found that more than half (52%) of low income households among the surveyed population reduce meals when they are faced with food shortages with 49% resorting to skipping of meals during food challenges (Chatterjee et al., 2012). The same pattern was also observed in Cameroon and Ethiopia where reduction of meal sizes was found to be a common coping strategy to food shortages (Belachew et al., 2013;Sneyd, 2013). ...
Food security remains central in the United Nation Development Agenda (2030) as highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs 2). Nonetheless, there is still limited literature on food security in African countries and the drivers of urban food insecurity remain less understood, especially in Eswatini where urban food insecurity continues to rise. This study investigated the levels of food insecurity in the low income households of Msunduza in Mbabane and the coping strategies employed by Msunduza residents to deal with food shortages. The study sought to respond to the following research questions: What are the levels of food insecurity in Msunduza? What are the determinants of food insecurity in Msunduza? How do Msunduza residents cope with food insecurity challenges? To respond to the research questions, the study adopted a quantitative approach based on a case study research design. Data was collected from 91 heads of households, selected through systematic sampling procedure. The results reveal that majority of households in Msunduza are food insecure, with a larger proportion in the mildly food insecure category. Household income, household size, employment status and gender of the household head were found to be among the key determinants of food (in)security in the area. In cases of food shortages, households in the informal settlement of Msunduza employ different coping strategies which include reducing food intake (size of meals), begging, selling of household assets and skipping of meals, among others. The paper recommended that food security interventions be considered for low income urban households, more particularly, female headed households which tend to be more vulnerable to food insecurity.
... Similar patterns of responses to HFIAS domains have also been reported by studies conducted in India and other countries. A study conducted in urban slums of Mumbai revealed that more households answered affirmatively to items on the consumption of lower quality of food (70.7%) than worrying about their food situation (66.1%) (Chatterjee, Fernandes, and Hernandez 2012). A study conducted in rural Tanzania reported that 67.9% of the household responded affirmatively to the question on a limited variety of food, while 54% responded affirmatively to the question on Anxiety or worried about enough food (Knueppel, Demment, and Kaiser 2010). ...
... The results of the present study are consistent with those of Chatterjee, Fernandes, and Hernandez (2012), who found that lower monthly household income was significantly associated with household food insecurity. A study conducted in Coimbatore, India, found that households without children are more food secure than households with children (Nnakwe and Yegammia 2002). ...
The food security status of rural inhabitants of the hilly region of the Uttarakhand State was poorly documented. This study aimed to determine the extent and determinants of household food insecurity in rural-hilly areas of Kumaun, Uttarakhand. A cross-sectional, interview-administered survey was conducted among 155 households. Food insecurity, as measured by Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, was found in a large number of households; 2.6% of households were categorized as severely food-insecure, 53.3% as moderately food-insecure, 7.1% as mildly food-insecure, and 36.8% as food-secure. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that food insecurity was significantly associated with the poverty level of the family, number of children or adolescents in the household, educational level of household head, number of employed family members, and social class (p < 0.05). The food security policies in India must modify focus from food entitlement to include education, income, employment, and household composition. Nutrition-sensitive interventions in agriculture to promote the cultivation of fruits and vegetables in hilly areas. Promotion of poultry farming, goat rearing, freshwater fish farming, and related training will increase the availability of animal food sources. It is an urgent need to design and implement location-specific programs and policies to address food insecurity and food access.
... Although constructing food insecurity as a categorical variable could raise concerns about cut-offs, it allowed for comparison of associations, as conceptualized in previous studies (e.g. Chatterjee et al. 2012;Gebreyesus et al. 2015;Kabunga et al. 2014;Maxwell et al. 2014). ...
... With breakdown of the extended family, an important source of social capital and support, it is not so surprising household heads who had lost their partner were likely to report severe food insecurity (Weiser et al. 2010). Furthermore, while place of residence influences production capacities and access to food markets (Antwi-Agyei et al. 2012), religion which often depict a semblance of multiple locational complexities tend to have important influence on food culture (Chatterjee et al. 2012). Consistent with the urban food insecurity literature, our study found households in the Wa Municipal, which host the regional capital, more likely to report being food insecurity. ...
Income diversification is promoted as one of the key strategies to address food insecurity. While its impact on food security is extensively examined, knowledge of this relationship in a resource poor context experiencing environmental variability and climate change is sparse. We examined income diversification and household food insecurity in a deprived context in Ghana—the Upper West Region. Employing multivariate ordered logistic regression, we analyzed cross-sectional survey data collected on household heads (n = 1438) to explain the association between income diversification and household food insecurity. We found that household heads who reported being highly income diversified were more likely to report being severely food insecure (OR = 1.09, p ≤ 0.001). Also, poorer households compared to the richest, and those headed by widows compared to those headed by married people were more likely to report being severely food insecure. Although income diversification is a necessary strategy for survival in the Upper West Region, this alone does not seem to alleviate food insecurity in some families. Given that the region experiences high deprivation and negative effects of environmental variability, we recommend expansion of the non-farm sector to create job opportunities, while implementing a comprehensive national food security policy to address tithing problems of food production and distribution in the Upper West Region, and in similar context.
... However, as a number of sources have noted (Athreya et al. 2010;Chatterjee et al. 2012), urban areas have been neglected in food security studies. Yet there is evidence that there is rising urban inequality which, combined with a neglect of investment in urban public health and increasingly insecure employment, is giving rise to a serious deterioration in food security for many of the poorest households. ...
... Nationally over 37 per cent of urban children aged 6-36 months are stunted, with urban areas in Maharashtra recording levels of 40 per cent compared to 27 per cent in Kerala (Athreya et al. 2010: 72). Chatterjee et al. (2012) found that nearly 60 per cent of urban slum households in Mumbai were severely food insecure, and households where the woman was the main earner were particularly likely to experience severe food insecurity. ...
India represents multiple paradoxes relating to food security. Despite national foodgrain self-sufficiency, levels of household food insecurity remain high. High levels of economic growth co-exist with high poverty and food insecurity. The share of agriculture in GDP has fallen but an agrarian transformation has not occurred. This chapter investigates these paradoxes, starting with a review of food and nutritional insecurity in India, pointing to the significant regional and social variability in these dimensions.
... In general, education contributes to development in social, institutional and also to economic spheres. Based on this theory, education is expected to have a significant explanatory power in relation to food security in rural areas (Tawodzera, 2011;Chatterjee et al., 2012;Akerele et al., 2013) However, there is empirical evidence with the opposite tendency (De Cock et al., 2013;Musemwa et al., 2015). Table 4 displays the average values of the food security indicators for different education levels of the head of households. ...
... These results may be taken as evidence supporting the claim that food accessibility and availability increase with household income. Similar findings associating food insecurity and income are reported in other studies (Tawodzera, 2011;Chatterjee et al., 2012;Akerele et al., 2013). However there is also evidence about the opposite tendency when food secure households are considered as low-income (De Cock et al., 2013;Musemwa et al., 2015). ...
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.
... Can India adequately feed its 1.7 billion people? If food is scarce now [5], what will the circumstances be like in 2050, when India will have an additional 430 million people to feed? [6][7][8]. ...
The agriculture sector plays an essential function within the Indian economic system. Foodgrains provide almost all the calories and proteins. This paper aims to compare ARIMA, SutteARIMA, Holt-Winters, and NNAR models to recommend an effective model to predict foodgrains production in India. The execution of the SutteARIMA predictive model used in this analysis was compared with the established ARIMA, Neural Network Auto-Regressive (NNAR), and Holt-Winters models, which have been widely applied for time series prediction. The findings of this study reveal that both the SutteARIMA model and the Holt-Winters model performed well with real-life problems and can effectively and profitably be engaged for food grain forecasting in India. The food grain forecasting approach with the SutteARIMA model indicated superior performance over the ARIMA, Holt-Winters, and NNAR models. Indeed, the actual and predicted values of the SutteARIMA and Holt-Winters forecasting models are quite close to predicting foodgrains production in India. This has been verified by MAPE and MSE values that are relatively low with the SutteARIMA model. Therefore, India’s SutteARIMA model was used to predict foodgrains production from 2021 to 2025. The forecasted amount of respective crops are as follows (in lakh tonnes) 1140.14 (wheat), 1232.27 (rice), 466.46 (coarse), 259.95 (pulses), and a total 3069.80 (foodgrains) by 2025.
... Food insecurity is considerably linked with family income, living standard, and expenses on food items (Chatterjee et al. 2012). A study conducted in an urban slum of Delhi revealed 51% of households to be food insecure (Agarwal et al. 2009). ...
Human health is mainly dependent on nutrition. In this era of modern civilization, many parts of the world (countries) are still struggling with the availability of sufficient food grains. Agriculture production is largely dependent on climatic conditions of the region. Owing to large dependence of agriculture on climatic conditions, it is adversely affected by the weather vagaries, rising temperature, and fluctuations in precipitation pattern. Moreover, the growing population has placed a huge burden on agriculture production for food security. Low food demand due to low per capita household income also adds to lower consumption, consequently leading to food insecurity. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is a blend of various approaches to transform and re-orient agriculture to ensure food security under changing climatic conditions. The main target of CSA is adaptability to climate change, alleviation of greenhouse gases, energy efficiency, and ultimately food security. Various smart technologies are incorporated in CSA to increase water, nutrient, and energy use efficiencies using advance knowledge and climate weather services. The adoption of CSA technologies has proven to efficiently raise agriculture production and consequently the household consumption of food items because of improved and better availability of quality food. The increased income of farming households also adds to the food security of the people and improves their food consumption pattern.KeywordsAgricultural productivityClimate-smart agricultureClimate-smart technologiesFood security
... 25,29,30 A study conducted in Mumbai, West India also reported lower monthly household income; lower rank in Standard of Living Index (SLI) and less percapita expenses on food items as significant influencers of household food insecurityl. 31 Caste has emerged as one of the predictor of household food insecurity in this study. Higher AORs for household food insecurity in subjects of this study from SC caste category is also substantiated by finding of a study conducted on elderly subjects of United States where minority status was a significant predictor of household food insecurity. ...
Food insecurity affects many dimensions of well-being. It may lead to under nutrition. Although geriatric subjects from food insecure households are more likely to have inadequate energy, household food security does not necessarily guarantee for energy adequacy at individual level. This community based cross-sectional study was conducted on 616 geriatric subjects to find out predictors of food insecurity at household and individual level and examine energy adequacy at family versus individual level. Subjects were selected by multistage sampling procedure from urban Varanasi, India. A predesigned, pretested proforma was used for collecting socioeconomic information. Food insecurity was assessed using Household Food Insecurity Access Scale; 24 hours recall method was used for energy intakes. For analysis of data SPSS version 22.0 was used. χ2 and logistic regression were used for inferential purpose. Food insecurity at household was 68.2%.The significant association of marital status, religion, type and size of family and literacy status with household food insecurity in univariate analysis got eliminated after applying logistic regression analysis; Adjusted Odds Ratios were higher for SC/ST Caste (2.13; 95% CI: 1-4.5) and upper lower plus lower socio economic status(24.13; 95% CI: 13.87-44.61). On energy intake considerations, of 53.9% subjects with household food insecurity, 80.7% had individual food insecurity whereas of 46.1% subjects with household food security 63.7% subjects had individual food insecurity. Caste and socioeconomic class predicted food insecurity at household level. Energy adequacy at family level did not ensure energy adequacy in geriatric subjects.
... The research suggested that an increase in food productions and imports were positively related to improved food insecurity. Chatterjee et al., (2012) also gave empirical evidence on the impact of household income and other socioeconomic on food insecurity in an urban poor household in Mumbai, India. Food insecurity was measured by household food insecurity access scale. ...
... With the help of previous studies, it is evaluated that the individuals who are highly educated are more food secure because they are having knowledge about the dietary intake and know about the nutritional value of food. Various studies across the contexts documented that in the case of gender female household headed are more likely food insecure because in availability of proper resources (Chatterjee et al., 2012;D'Souza and Jolliffe, 2012;Rai and Selvaraj, 2015;Maitra and Rao, 2015;Riley and Caesar, 2017). The consumption expenditure has interconnected with the level of income, capital assets and production availability. ...
The aim of the present study is to develop a conceptual model of determinants influencing the household food security in India based on the evidence from the past. The study hypothesised the various determinants that affect the food security at household level. The study is approached to the theoretical model and systematical investigation of the prior literature to identify the various determinants affecting the household food security (HFS). The study advanced a conceptual model on the determinants of HFS in India. The determinants are extracted, categorised, narratively described and developed a framework of HFS. The result of the present study concludes that factors included, viz., age of the household, gender, education, employment, household members’ income, social status, nutritional knowledge, land ownership, assets, inflation, land production, livestock are important factors for determining HFS. A deceptive restraint of the study was non-existence of the contributions based on empirical data. The future research should empirically validate the conceptual framework and examine the mediating and moderating effects of antecedents on the relationship between HFS and its various determinants
... The marital status factor also has a positive influence on the adoption of environmental practices. This result goes in line with the study by Chatterjee et al. (2012) and Nagata et al. (2012) demonstrating that married producers are more likely to adopt these practices because they receive support (intellectual, physical, financial, etc.) from their partner. ...
In response to various environmental problems facing the intensive mode of agricultural production, this study analysed the factors influencing the adoption of agri-environmental practices by maize producers organised in co-operatives in the Centre region of Cameroon by using the case study of PIDMA project. For this reason, the survey was undertaken in all the 15 villages grouping maize producers in two out of the four cooperatives under the regional coordinating unit of the project (PIDMA). Data on the socio-economic situation of producers, level of knowledge and applicability of environmental practices were gathered in the study area from 50 out of 88 (i.e. 56.8%) active maize producers. The descriptive field results revealed that the adoption of agri-environmental practices was related to social, psychological and economic characteristics of producers. The binary logit model results indicated that the adoption of agri-environmental practices was associated with the frequency of PIDMA agricultural training and cultivated area under maize. However, certain variables such as gender, age, education level, marital status, cost of implementing practice, lack of funding, labour type, time spent for the implementation of the practice, income source, technical and professional support did not seem to be associated with the adoption of agri-environmental practices. In conclusion, the study recommended to the maize farmers, the setting up of working groups of at least 10 maize producers in order to practice rotations in the fields of each member of the group. The study also recommended the agricultural development projects to define and provide relatively simple mechanisms to enhance farmers’ performance such as financial assistance, demonstration workshops in the fields and to allocate environmental assistants to each co-operative’s headquarters.Keywords: Cooperative, logit model, maize producer, agricultural development project, socio-economic factors.
... Consequently, some studies have been conducted by researchers via different qualitative and descriptive approaches to explore the effect of UA on food security (Cook et al., 2015;Ayerakwa, 2017). Simultaneously, other authors used inferential statistics to discuss the factors that influence food security (Chatterjee et al., 2012;Joshi et al., 2019;Ayerakwa et al., 2020). However, only a few intercountry studies have been conducted. ...
Purpose
The study attempted to assess the food security status of urban agriculture households in Ghana and India. Also, the extent of urban agriculture participation and its effect on food security in Ghana and India were examined
Design/methodology/approach
A total of six hundred and fifty urban agriculture farmers were interviewed for this study in Ghana and India. Food security status of urban households was assessed by the use of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, whereas the determinants of the extent of urban agriculture and its effect on food security were analysed by the use of the heteroskedastic linear regression and the Seemingly Unrelated Regression models, respectively.
Findings
From the study on average, households in Ghana were mildly food insecure, but that of India was moderately food insecure. The results further revealed that, various demographic, economic, institutional, health and nutrition factors differently influenced urban food security and the urban agriculture participation. Also, the extent of urban agriculture participation positively influenced food security.
Originality/value
Several studies in Asia (India) and Africa (Ghana) on urban food security have been geographically limited to New Delhi, Mumbai and Greater Accra, with few studies in the Middle Belt of Ghana, and Bihar in India. Besides, there is a limited, rigorous, empirical study on the effect of the extent of urban agriculture on food security in Asia (India) and Africa (Ghana) individually and together. Moreover, we extend the frontiers of the methodological approach by applying the Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) model to understand if the factors that affect food-security accessibility based on two food security accessibility tools are correlated.
Keywords: urban agriculture, food security, HFIAS, per capita food expenditure
... Adequate food-acquiring ability required for family members considered a house food secured while it does not highlight individual members as nutritionally food secured (Pinstrup-Andersen 2009). Food security index (FSI) was employed in measuring the status of rural households food security during the year if every one of household member of family be able to pay for to obtain food thrice a day (secured) or not (insecure) (Kazal et al. 2010;Chatterjee et al. 2012;Alam 2016). In national and global scenarios, multiple researches indicated various approaches of measurement and provided dissimilar estimates regarding food security and insecurity (Haysom and Tawodzera 2018). ...
Rural communities inhabited on riverbank areas are frequently facing the ever-increasing psychological, social and economic distress due to negative effects of riverbank erosion. This study focused to investigate the impact of climate-based hazards particularly riverbank erosion on human displacement, food security and livelihood of rural riverine households and how vulnerable households act in response. The survey data of 398 households of erosion-prone riverbank area were collected, and group discussions connecting household heads from this area were also used for this study. In human displacement scenario of the last ten years due to riverbank erosion, almost 60% households lost their homestead once while 38% more than three times and forced to displaced. Empirical estimates of households’ food security status indicated the value of Food Security Index 2.11, highlighting households face issue of food security all over the year. Food security issue of vulnerable households is highly related with migration because these households have insufficient employment chances, and coupled with limited or no farming land, they are highly prone to migration. In conclusion, this study estimated that riverbank erosion risk is a co-exist reason of population displacement, increasing rural environmental vulnerability and obstacles to psychological, cultural and socioeconomic development. Implications of local-based proper policy interventions such as developing advance research regarding infusion of agro-based technology packages for emerging Bait areas for developing resilience, human capital development, credit access and institution service are necessary for improving livelihood and food security of these riverbank erosion households. State-based institutions and local community mutually need to focus increasing forestry specifically in riverbank areas to save fertile land from riverbank erosion and reducing environmental pollution. Convalescing livelihood and food security for erosion riverbank households, more employment opportunity needs to provided, investing more in training and education programmes to promoting income-generating activities that subsequently will develop livelihood and food security of households.
... Following the enforced mobility restrictions and disrupted food supply chains, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has therefore created a sense of food insecurity in urban centers [57]. However, very limited research has thus far been done to understand the food insecurity issues in context of urban areas in India (e.g., [58,59]). ...
The globally fast-spreading novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is now testing the abilities of all countries to manage its widespread implications on public health. To effectively contain its impacts, a nation-wide temporary lockdown was enforced in India. The resultant panic buying and stockpiling incidents together with spread of misinformation created a sense of food insecurity at local level. This paper discusses a specific case of Nagpur from the worst affected Maharashtra state of India, wherein the urban–rural food supply chains were reportedly disrupted. Based on formal interviews with local government officials, a month-long timeline of COVID-19 outbreak in Nagpur was studied along with the consequent government initiatives for maintaining public health and food supply. While the city residents were confined to their homes, this study then assessed their perceived food security at household level, along with their “Immediate Concerns” and “Key Information Sources”. Through online surveys at two different time intervals, the concerns of “Food and Grocery” were found to be rising, and “Government Apps and Websites” were identified as the most reliable source of information. Based on the research findings, the authors further suggest specific policy recommendations for addressing the immediate and long-term concerns related to food systems in Nagpur.
... The food security status of 377 million inhabitants of India's urban areas, of which one fourth live in extreme poverty, is highly insecure. 54 The percentage of household income spent on food was 24 per cent. India's overall food security index was 48.9 per cent in 2017. ...
Access to water and food remains critical to the survival and stability of any nation.
Insecurity of food and unequal distribution of water rights are active drivers of instability
and violent conflicts. These crises are no less evident in Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa (BRICS). Studies addressing the crises in BRICS are localised, making the
articulation of water and food policy for BRICS as a body a necessity. This paper therefore
undertakes a review of the political economy of the water and food security nexus in BRICS. In doing so, the paper identifies areas of cooperation and collaboration, such as virtual water importation and reduction of the water footprint, among BRICS. The paper also offers policy options in the context of the BRICS long-term strategy.
... As the study population relies on cash for everyday purchases and labor compensation, food insecurity and its salience for mental health may have been inflated in this sample. For comparison, experience-based estimates of household food insecurity in the slums of other Indian cities suggest rates as high as 76.3% (Chatterjee et al., 2012), which is slightly lower than that reported by mothers in this sample (82%). ...
Theoretical analyses by anthropologists suggest that food and water insecurity exhibit multiple conceptual parallels, hold similar consequences for wellbeing, and lead to analogous coping strategies aimed at mitigating those consequences. However, these deductions largely originate from studies conducted separately on either food or water insecurity. Thus, these similarities may not bear out when examined in populations facing high rates of both. In particular, some researchers argue that food and water insecurity exert independent but nonetheless iterative effects on mental wellbeing. Others hypothesize that food insecurity mediates the relationship between water insecurity and mental health, especially in agricultural communities. However, relevant studies are limited, and none test this hypothesis in urban areas. Moreover, no data exist on water insecurity and mental wellbeing in adolescents, which hampers comparative analyses of youth resource insecurity. In addition, resource buffering-a long-discussed coping strategy-remains contested with respect to food insecurity and effectively untested with respect to water insecurity. The buffering hypothesis suggests that adults cushion younger household members against resource inadequacies via tradeoffs that yield gender- and age-based disparities in intrahousehold resource distributions. For example, adults may forgo food quality, quantity, or variety in favor of children. It stands to reason that adults similarly buffer children against water scarcity, but, again, this has not been examined. Conducted December 2016-April 2017, this cross-sectional survey included 650 mothers, fathers, boys, and girls living in the slums of Jaipur, India. When controlling for food insecurity, the relationship between water insecurity and psychosocial stress (Perceived Stress Scale-10) was eliminated; water insecurity's effect on anxiety and depression (Hopkins Symptom Checklist-10) remained significant for fathers only. These findings are consistent with the mediation hypothesis. Moreover, pursuant to the buffering hypothesis, parents generally reported more severe resource scarcity than their children; however, girls reported slightly worse water insecurity than fathers.
... Traditionally linear regression and integrated dynamic models have been used for incorporating socio-economic conditions into food security forecasts. Number of researchers have reported using linear regression to study food security w.r.t the relationship between the socio-economic and agro-meteoroloigcal parameters at sub-national (Gill & Khan, 2010) and household level (Gebre, 2012;Grobler, 2015;Mbukwa, 2013;Chatterjee et al., 2012). The benefit of these methods is the flexibility in allowing their customization as per available information resulting in their use in circumstances with comparatively restricted data sets, which is usually the case for underdeveloped countries with low or deteriorating food security. ...
Abstract The total available land for food, fuel, or forests is finite, while land demand is increasing and expected to increase further in the coming decades; resulting in deterioration of food security. Therefore, the corporate world adopted a solution of acquiring international agricultural land. Consequently, the global demand for land has progressively risen, but the question requiring decision support is - which lands to acquire for food production to ensure future food security? Food Science and Technology has vital pivotal roles to play in improving this situation, as food science is inherently multidisciplinary and motivated by the use of new technologies. In this paper, we endeavour to address this multidisciplinary food science question, by considering 16 Middle East North Africa (MENA) region countries having extreme economic diversity and enormous variation in adaptive capacity. Our study parameters consist of CO2 fertilization, water scarcity and meta-parameter of climate change vulnerability. Using logical inference and principal of separate modifiability, major food security concerns were identified for 2030.
... If the problem persists, then house-holds compromise the quality of food consumed and finally reduce the quantity of the food consumed by adults. (Chatterjee, Fernandes, & Hernandez, 2012). Deficiencies in agriculture and rural infrastructure are the biggest problems for agricultural development. ...
... In the context of the rapid urbanization of the South and the associated growth in urban food insecurity, this view is increasingly untenable. While the drivers of food insecurity in rapidly-growing urban areas are receiving some attention (see Agarwal et al., 2009;Battersby 2011;Chatterjee et al., 2012;Crush and Battersby, 2016), the precise connections between food security and international and internal migration are still largely unexplored. In particular, the levels and causes of food insecurity amongst new arrivals in the city have received very little consideration-and the isolated studies that do exist focus more on internal than international migration ( Pendleton et al., 2014;Rai and Selvaraj, 2015). ...
The drivers of food insecurity in rapidly-growing urban areas of the Global South are receiving more research and policy attention, but the precise connections between urbanization and urban food security are still largely unexplored. In particular, the levels and causes of food insecurity amongst new migrants to the city have received little consideration. This is in marked contrast to the literature on the food security experience of new immigrants from the South in European and North American cities. This article aims to contribute to the new literature on South-South migration and urban food security by focusing on the case of recent Zimbabwean migrants to South African cities. The article presents the results of a household survey of migrants in the South African cities of Cape Town and Johannesburg. The survey showed extremely high levels of food insecurity and low dietary diversity. We attribute these findings, in part, to the difficulties of accessing regular incomes and the other demands on household income. However, most migrants are also members of multi-spatial households and have obligations to support household members in Zimbabwe. We conclude, therefore, that although migration may improve the food security of the multi-spatial household as a whole, it is also a factor in explaining the high levels of insecurity of migrants in the city.
... Delhi [21] and Meerut [22] slum studies shortened it to a 4-item scale. The 9-item FANTA scale has been used in six studies: rural Mizoram [23], Karnataka [24] Mumbai slums [25], Delhi urban resettlement colony [26], rural Odisha [27] and state-wide Maharashtra nutrition survey [28]. The 8-item FIES scale has been used in the nationwide Gallup World Poll (GWP) 2014 survey and its 2012 feasibility study [29]. ...
Background
Experience-based household food insecurity (HFI) scales are not included in large-scale Indian surveys. There is limited evidence on which experience-based HFI scale or questions within a scale are most relevant for India. Between 01 June and 31 August 2015, we reviewed 19 published and unpublished studies, conducted in India between January 2000 and June 2015, which used experience-based HFI scales. As part of this exercise, internal validity and reliability of the scale used in these studies was examined, field experiences of 31 researchers who used experience-based HFI scales in India were gathered and psychometric tests were conducted where raw data were available. ResultsOut of the 19 studies reviewed, HFI prevalence varied depending on the type of experience-based HFI scale used. Internal reliability across scales ranged between 0.75 and 0.94; however certain items (‘balanced meal’, ‘preferred food’, ‘worried food would run out’) had poor in-fit and out-fit statistics. To improve this, the following is suggested, based on review and experience of researchers: (1) cognitive testing of quality of diet items; (2) avoiding child-referenced items; (3) rigorous training of enumerators; (4) addition of ‘how often’ to avoid overestimation of food-insecure conditions; (5) splitting the cut and skip meal item and (6) using a standardized set of questions for aiding comparison of construct validity across scales. Conclusions
An evidence-based policy dialogue is needed in India for contextualizing and harmonizing the experience-based HFI scales across multiple surveys to aid comparability over time, and support policy decision making.
... All studies were household-based and cross-sectional (seeTable 2).Wright and Gupta, 2015) used the orginal version of the 6-item scale. Delhi (Agarwal et al., 2009) and Meerut (Agarwal et al., 2009a) slum studies shortened it to a 4-item scale.Pasricha et al., 2009), Mumbai slums (Chatterjee et al., 2012), Delhi urban resettlement colony (Chinnakali et al., 2014Nord and Cafiero, 2015). ...
Household food insecurity is a key underlying cause of child stunting. However, information on the extent and severity of food insecurity experiences in Indian households is limited as none of the large scale Indian surveys include composite and validated experience-based measures of household food insecurity (HFI). It is also unclear which HFI scale or questions within that scale are most relevant for the Indian context. UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization, India, therefore, commissioned a review paper in 2015, bringing together seven researchers in five organizations with experience on the use of experience-based HFI scales in Indian settings.
... In a study of urban slums in Varanasi it was found that 75 percent of pre-school children were malnourished (Mishra et al., 2001). Chatterjee et al. (2012) in a cross-section study of urban poor slum households in Mumbai found that 59.7 percent of the households were food insecure. ...
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to identify the pathways through which social protection policies in China and India can address the key challenges facing poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged groups under rapid transformation in both countries.
Design/methodology/approach
– This paper reviews the main social protection policies in China and India and analyzes the challenges that they are facing. This analysis is based on an evaluation of poverty and food security trends in both countries among vulnerable and disadvantaged groups followed by an overview of major experiences and gaps in social protection policies in the two emerging Asian giants.
Findings
– Improving the coverage and targeting of social protection systems is vital, and will require a multi-faceted reform portfolio that promotes more integrated and horizontally equitable systems. Emphasis should be placed on developing productive, cross-sectoral social protection programs that combine short-term social safety support with long-term tools to enhance productivity, paying special attention to nutrition, health, and human capital development. More efficient coverage and targeting should bridge the rural and urban divide and be grounded in transparent criteria and procedures that govern program implementation at all levels of the government. As both countries become more urbanized, social protection programs need to give equal attention to emerging food insecurity and nutrition issues within urban areas without detracting from food security and nutrition efforts in rural areas.
Originality/value
– Faced with a sizable population of undernourished and poor people, India and China have applied rather different approaches to address food insecurity. The originality and value of this paper lie in an in-depth parallel analysis of how China and India can better use their social protection systems to address food insecurity and undernutrition among poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged groups.
... A comparison of these health indicators with those of other countries reveals that urban India ranks quite poorly on the world stage (FAO 2013). At the local level, a study conducted by Chatterjee et al. (2012) in Mumbai slums found 76 % of households experienced severe to moderate food insecurity. These trends are not limited to megacities such as Mumbai; several studies (Gopichandran et al. 2010;Agarwal et al. 2011;Ghosh and Shah 2004) that focused on smaller Indian cities have reported similar trends in malnutrition and experiential food insecurity at the household level. ...
Although the street food sector plays an important role in urban food security, state-led food security measures in India have failed to provide a role for poor urban street food vendors to engage in the distribution and consumption of healthy foods. Instead, state-led food security schemes, whether production, distribution, or consumption oriented, have viewed the urban poor simply as beneficiaries of subsidized grain. This case study illustrates how the street food sector, operated by poor urban vendors selling ready-to-eat, healthy millet-based porridges in Madurai, has improved access to nutritious foods and created livelihood opportunities for the urban poor. The paper provides an overview of the informal street food sector, socioeconomic conditions of vendors, gender-based division of labour, as well as the food preferences and health awareness of consumers. Analysis of the data indicates the marginalization of street food vendors under the existing policy environment in urban India. The paper discusses how the state, as a regulatory body and a service delivery agent, as well as research and development organizations can strengthen the rights and capabilities of street vendors and, in doing so, improve urban food security.
... The environmental unpredictability, on its turn, can be made even worse by anthropogenic effects, such as overfishing (Burbridge et al. 2001). In coastal communities, fishing resources are essential as food and income sources, and, as such, impacts on these resources have consequences to food security and to the local socioeconomics (Chatterjee, Fernandes, and Hernandez 2012;Mulyila, Matsuoka, and Anraku 2012). Such impacts reflect on the livelihood of the fishers' families by leading them, for example, to look for more stable economic alternatives, resulting in groups with different levels of fisheries dependency in the community (Capellesso and Cazella 2011). ...
This study compared the consumption of animal protein and food sharing among fishers' and non-fishers' families of the northeastern Brazilian coast. The diet of these families was registered through the 24-hour-recall method during 10 consecutive days in January (good fishing season) and June (bad fishing season) 2012. Fish consumption was not different between the fishers' and non-fishers' families, but varied according to fisheries productivity to both groups. Likewise, food sharing was not different between the two groups, but food was shared more often when fisheries were productive. Local availability of fish, more than a direct dependency on fisheries, determines local patterns of animal protein consumption, but a direct dependency on fisheries exposes families to a lower-quality diet in less-productive seasons. As such, fisheries could shape and affect the livelihoods of coastal villages, including fishers' and non-fishers' families.
Background:
Food insecurity is a pressing global challenge with far-reaching consequences for health and well-being. However, little attention has focused specifically on the experiences of children and adolescents over the age of 5 in food insecure households.
Objective:
We examine whether the persistence and severity of household food insecurity are negatively associated with children's educational outcomes.
Methods:
We used data for the younger cohort of the longitudinal Young Lives data from Rounds 3 (2009), 4 (2013), and 5 (2016), when children were aged 8 y, 12 y, and 15 y respectively. Drawing on the Household Food Insecurity and Access Scale, we used descriptive statistics, graphical analysis, and multilevel regressions to document how the persistence and severity of household food insecurity are associated with children's educational outcomes (years of education, maths, and vocabulary (PPVT) test scores). We controlled for potentially confounding sociodemographic characteristics, including children's own baseline grade attained and test scores in 'value-added' models, to provide robust estimates of household food insecurity in predicting children's educational outcomes.
Results:
Household food insecurity generally declined between 2009 and 2016. Fewer than 50% of households were food secure across the three rounds of data we examined. Our robust, multivariate, value-added models show that the persistence and severity of food insecurity are negatively associated with all three children's educational outcomes we examined.
Conclusions:
We add to a small but growing literature exploring how household food insecurity is associated with children's educational outcomes in the Global South. Our findings on severity of food insecurity highlight the importance of understanding food insecurity along the severity continuum rather than as a dichotomous state, as previously done in existing literature. Addressing household food insecurity in childhood and adolescence may be a key factor improve children's educational outcomes.
Background
Depression is a significant health concern that is yet to be recognised as an important public health challenge in India. Furthermore, given the critical condition of food insecurity among older people in India, it is likely that they are more vulnerable to depression. The interplay of depression among older people resulting from food insecurity is an under-explored phenomenon in the Indian context. Therefore, this study examines the association between food insecurity and depression among older people in India.
Methods
The study used data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI). Food insecurity was measured with a set of questions formed into dichotomous variable and depression was measured with Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D scale). Binary logistic regression was performed to confirm the findings statistically.
Results
Results showed that older adults who reported food insecurity were more likely to be depressed (OR= 1.20; C.I.=1.03-1.25) than their younger counterparts. Furthermore, older adults who were independent for Activity of Daily Living (ADL) were less likely (OR= 0.73; C.I.=0.53-1.00) to report depression, whereas, female (OR= 1.12; C.I.=1.00-1.26) and never married (OR= 2.11; C.I.=1.18-3.79) older adults were more likely to be depressed than their respective counterparts.
Conclusion
It is important to integrate mental health with food insecurity. Future studies may consider including mental health services with food assistance programs or vice versa.
Pour analyser les effets de l’adoption des variétés améliorées de maïs (VAM) sur la sécurité alimentaire du ménage de l’adoptant, une étude a été réalisée auprès de 320 producteurs au Nord-Bénin plus précisément dans les Communes de Malanville, Banikoara, Kalalé et Djougou. Pour y parvenir les indicateurs de sécurité alimentaire tels que l’indice domestique de faim (HHS); les scores de consommation et de diversité alimentaire (SCAM et SDAM) et la part des dépenses alimentaires (PDA) des ménages ont été estimés et modélisés. Le test de ANOVA et le modèle de régression linéaire ont été respectivement utilisés pour la comparaison des moyennes et la modélisation des indicateurs. L’adoption des VAM réduit l’insécurité alimentaire du ménage parce que les résultats obtenus ont montré d’une part que les ménages adoptant les VAM ont des HHS, SCAM et SDAM plus élevés mais des PDA plus faibles que ceux des ménages non adoptants. Et d’autre part que ces indicateurs varient selon les caractéristiques socioéconomique et démographique du producteur. Alors pour que la culture du maïs renforce la sécurité alimentaire du ménage producteur, les gouvernants, projets et programmes doivent promouvoir davantage les variétés améliorées de maïs. To assess the effects of the adoption of improved varieties of maize (VAM) on the food security of the adopting household, a study was carried out among 320 producers in North Benin, more specifically in the Communes of Malanville, Banikoara, Kalalé and Djougou. To achieve this, food security indicators such as the Household Hunger Scale (HHS); the food consumption and diversity scores (SCAM and SDAM) and the share of household food expenditure (PDA) were estimated and modeled. The ANOVA test and the linear regression model were respectively used for comparison of means and modeling of indicators. The adoption of VAM reduces household food insecurity because the results obtained have shown on the one hand that households adopting VAM have higher HHS, SCAM and SDAM but lower PDAs than those of non-adopting households. On the other hand, these indicators vary according to the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the producer. So that the cultivation of maize strengthens the food security of the producer household, governments, projects and programs must further promote improved varieties of maize.
This paper examines the impacts of climate-induced hazards, especially riverbank erosion, on livelihoods and food security, and the ways in which susceptible households respond. The study uses survey data collected from 380 riverbank erosion-prone rural households in Bangladesh, along with data from focus group discussions involving household heads from severe erosion-prone areas. A Food Security Index (FSI) has been developed to improve understanding of the extent of households’ food insecurity where 3 indicates food security and 1 minimal security. Over the past 10 years, about a third of households have lost their homestead more than three times and 57% have lost at least once. The overall FSI value of 2.06 indicates households’ difficulties in managing family food requirements throughout the year. Migration co-exists with vulnerable households’ food security with households that have no or limited agricultural land, coupled with inadequate employment opportunities, are more inclined to migrate. Households that are struggling to make a living through farming are responding by coping and adaptation. Interventions such as access to institutions and credit facilities, human capital development and a package of technologies through agro-ecological based research for emerging char land (sandbars) are required to build resilience of the riparian households as well as improve their food security and livelihoods.
There is an increasing need to study urban food security in the global South. This is because of the monetization of food in urban areas and compounding vulnerability from other deprivations such as lack of access to infrastructure. We assess these claims in this paper, based on a city-wide household survey in Bengaluru (Bangalore) carried out in 2016 that used experiential measures of food security like the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. We find that income and consumption do not have a clear relationship with food insecurity. However, socioeconomic dimensions like education level and wage type of the household head, and infrastructural dimensions like housing typology, and water connection are strongly related to food security. Through this work, we attempt to establish the baseline evidence on the current status of food security in Bengaluru, to lay the foundation for a future research agenda on urban food security in India.
The United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016–2025 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development call on all countries and stakeholders to work together to prevent all forms of malnutrition by 2030. In Nepal, these considerations are at the forefront of the country's Sustainable Development Goals. To aid in this effort, this article presents a case study from the mountainous Humla District, Nepal, that was designed to better understand how the arrival of the first road in this area is affecting food security and nutritional status, and how these 2 variables are interrelated. Data from participant observation, interviews, the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale questionnaire, and a region-specific food frequency questionnaire suggest that while the road provides more reliable access to market-sourced food than before, villagers' intake of many micronutrients remains below recommended levels, as most of the market-purchased foods are nutrient poor. Data also suggest that this population is experiencing the double burden of malnutrition: simultaneous cases of underweight and overweight. High food security levels among those in the malnourished/overweight group could easily mask this emerging public health concern. This study provides an analytical framework to better understand the nexus of food security and nutrition, and offers evidence-based recommendations for decreasing food insecurity and malnutrition in mountainous regions, which will help achieve the goal of preventing all forms of malnutrition by 2030.
An estimated 1 billion people suffer from hunger worldwide, and climate change, urbanization, and globalization have the potential to exacerbate this situation. Improved models for predicting food security are needed to understand these impacts and design interventions. However, food insecurity is the result of complex interactions between physical and socio-economic factors that can overwhelm linear regression models. More sophisticated data-mining approaches could provide an effective way to model these relationships and accurately predict food insecure situations. In this paper, we compare multiple regression and data-mining methods in their ability to predict the percent of a country's population that suffers from undernourishment using widely available predictor variables related to socio-economic settings, agricultural production and trade, and climate conditions. Averaging predictions from multiple models results in the lowest predictive error and provides an accurate method to predict undernourishment levels. Partial dependence plots are used to evaluate covariate influence and demonstrate the relationship between food insecurity and climatic and socio-economic variables. By providing insights into these relationships and a mechanism for predicting undernourishment using readily available data, statistical models like those developed here could be a useful tool for those tasked with understanding and addressing food insecurity.
One-third of India’s urban population resides in extreme poverty, in slums and squatters. Food insecurity remains a visible
reality among this segment. Yet, it is scarcely documented. This paper describes levels and determinants of experiential household
food insecurity (HFI) in an underserved urban slum of Delhi (India) and reports the internal validity and reliability of the
measure used to assess experiential HFI. A four-item scale was adapted from the U.S. six-item short-form food security scale
and was administered in Hindi through household interviews with 410 female adults. Association of HFI with household economic
and socio-demographic characteristics were examined using multiple logistic regression. Cronbach’s alpha and Rasch-model-based
item fit statistics were used to assess reliability and internal validity. Fifty-one percent of households were food insecure.
Significant HFI predictors were unemployed to employed family members’ ratio of > 3:1 (Odds Ratio 2.1, Confidence Interval
1.2 – 3.4) and low household standard of living (OR 4.9, C.I. 2.7 – 8.9). Cronbach’s alpha was 0.8. Item severities as estimated
under Rasch model assumptions spanned 9.7 logits. Item infit statistics (0.77 – 1.07) indicated that the Rasch model fit the
data well. Item outfit statistics suggested that one item was inconsistently understood by a small proportion of respondents.
For improving HFI among the urban poor, in addition to improving behaviors/entitlement access, programs should consider linkage
of urban poor to existing employment schemes, upgrading of their skills and linkage to potential employers. The adapted scale
was reliable and easy to administer. However, being a subjective assessment, its sensitivity to social expectation and its
association with nutrition security require examination.
KeywordsUrban poor-Household food insecurity-Slums
Food security is a growing concern worldwide. More than 1 billion people are estimated to lack sufficient dietary energy availability, and at least twice that number suffer micronutrient deficiencies. Because indicators inform action, much current research focuses on improving food insecurity measurement. Yet estimated prevalence rates and patterns remain tenuous because measuring food security, an elusive concept, remains difficult. © 2010 American Association for the Advancement for Science. All Rights Reserved.
The purpose of the present study was to test the construct validity, internal consistency and convergent validity of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) in measuring household food insecurity in rural Tanzania, and to determine socio-economic characteristics associated with household food insecurity.
Key informant interviews and a cross-sectional survey were conducted in February and March 2008.
Rural Iringa, Tanzania.
Key informant interviews were conducted with twenty-one purposively selected male and female village leaders. For the household surveys, a sample of 237 households with mothers (caregivers) and at least one child between 1 and 5 years of age were included.
Approximately 20.7 % of the households were categorized as food-secure, 8.4 % as mildly food-insecure, 22.8 % as moderately food-secure and 48.1 % as severely food-insecure. Two main factors emerged from the rotated principal component factor analysis: (i) insufficient food quality; and (ii) insufficient food intake. Both factors explained 69 % of the total variance. The full food insecurity scale and the two subscales had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.83-0.90). Food security, as measured by HFIAS, was positively associated with maternal education, husband's education, household wealth status, being of an agricultural rather than pastoral tribe and animal-source food consumption; it was negatively associated with maternal age and household size.
The HFIAS measurement instrument shows validity and reliability in measuring household food insecurity among poor households in rural Tanzania.
Rapid, small surveys are routinely done in much of the developing world but are less common in the United States. We present as an example a rapid survey of immunization status and other factors in a predominantly Hispanic region in Los Angeles. The survey united county employees, students, and community volunteers, first to enumerate the eligible population and then to conduct in-person interviews. Sampling was done in two stages in a downtown region of Los Angeles. Over the course of two weekends and during clean-up the following week, volunteers and others enumerated 718 eligible children in 30 clusters (i.e. groups of blocks). At the second stage, also in two weekends with midweek clean-up, we selected by simple random sample 10 children per cluster. The parents or legal guardians of 270 children were interviewed about vaccination issues, including home presence of an immunization card. Nearly one fourth of the respondents did not have a home telephone number and thus would have been underrepresented in a telephone survey. Information from such rapid surveys is important for local program planning and evaluation.
Low incomes may not provide the minimum requirements for healthy living. We evaluated experiences of food insecurity in relation to income in inner London.
Subjects attending 10 general medical practices completed a short self-administered questionnaire, including the short form Household Food Security Scale and a short food frequency questionnaire.
Responses were obtained from 431/495 (87 per cent) subjects. Overall 87 (20 per cent) of subjects were classified as food insecure. Food insecurity was negatively associated with household income (p = 0.004). University-educated subjects (8 per cent) were less often food insecure than all others (26 per cent). Subjects who were food insecure were less likely to report eating fruit daily (food secure 48 per cent, food insecure 33 per cent, p = 0.017) or vegetables or salads daily (food secure 56 per cent, food insecure 34 per cent, p = 0.002).
Experiences of food insecurity may be common in households with incomes at the level of the UK national minimum wage or lower.
To assess the prevalence of household food insecurity at various income levels in urban areas of Karachi.
A cross sectional survey of different localities in the central district of Karachi was carried out. The data was collected through household interviews of housewives conducted by trained nutritionist. Housewives were interviewed about food security status of the household.
A total of 797 families were visited from the central district of Karachi. Mean Food Security Score increased with income level. The difference was statistically significant (ANOVA) between 1st and second (P=0.000) and 2nd and 3rd group (P=0.000) but not between 3rd and fourth group. At the very low and low income levels 83% & 51% families respectively were food insecure in any degree, while this percentage was very low at the middle (6.3%) and high income level (1.8%). The difference in prevalence of food insecurity between the VLI and LI, and, LI and MI income groups was statistically significant (chi.sq. test, p<0.001 in each case). Hunger (because of lack of money) was experienced in the preceding year only by "very low income" (37%) and "low income" families (17%). Use of coping strategies was most frequently mentioned for parents and then for children and only occasionally for infants or grand parents. Females were more likely to be effected by food insecurity than males. Meat, milk and fruits were the food groups which were preferred and considered healthy but were avoided because of lack of money by a majority (51%-86%) of families.
In spite of having an impression of being an affluent city of Pakistan, the prevalence of food insecurity with and without hunger is rampant not only among very low income (slum dwellers) but also among low income families of Karachi.
Acute Otitis Media (AOM) is the most frequent respiratory tract infection of infancy and childhood that is treated with antimicrobial
agents. The most common causative pathogens includeStreptococcus pneumoniae, Hemophilus influenzae andMoxarella catarrhalis, and therefore antibacterial management should target against these isolates. Cefactor, a congener of cephalexin monohydrate,
is a semisynthetic cephalosporin antibiotic. It is an orally active cephalosporin which has demonstrated activity against
a wide range of organismsin vitro. Present study is designed as a multicentric prospective trial to study and compare the efficacy and safety of cefaclor versus
amoxicillin+clav in children with acute otitis media. One hundred and sixty seven patients were evaluated for efficacy endpoints
in the cefaclor arm comprised of 104 males and 63 females with a mean age of 5.74±2.80 years and 185 patients in the amoxy-clav
group comprised of 118 males and 67 females with a mean age of 4.93±2.92 years. Both cefaclor and amoxy-clav caused a significant
improvement in all the signs and symptoms after a 10-day treatment period. However, between-the-group comparisons showed that
the reduction i nmost of the symptoms was significantly more in cefaclor arm as compared to amoxicillin-clav arm. The clinical
success (clinical cure + improvement) at the end of therapy was significantly more in cefaclor arm: 98% with cefaclor versus
85% with amoxicillin+clav, p<0.05 (Table 3). Failure cases were prescribed other antibiotics according to the culture sensitivity
reports, as rescue medication. Bacterial eradication rates were largely consistent with clinical responses. Bacteriological
eradication was seen in 95% of patients in cefaclor group and 78% of patients in amoxicillin+clav group. In conclusion, cefaclor
is a well tolerated and effective antibacterial option for acute otitis media in children and it is superior to the combination
of amoxicillin+clav in efficacy and tolerability in acute AOM. Moreover, its expanded spectrum of activity, ability to achieve
adequate concentrations in tissues, suitability for twicedaily dosing, and proven tolerability suggest that it is a good alternative
to agents traditionally used in acute otitis media.
Increasing urbanization has resulted in a faster growth of slum population. Various agencies, especially those in developing countries are finding it difficult to respond to this situation effectively. Disparities among slums exist owing to various factors. This has led to varying degrees of health burden on the slum children. Child health conditions in slums with inadequate services are worse in comparison to relatively better served slums. Identification, mapping and assessment of all slums is important for locating the hitherto missed out slums and focusing on the neediest slums. In view of the differential vulnerabilities across slums, an urban child health program should build context appropriate and community-need-responsive approaches to improve children's health in the slums.
This paper hypothesizes that there is a common "core" to the household food insecurity experience that goes beyond insufficient food quantity and that transcends culture. The paper for the first time employs an exploratory approach to identify cross-cultural commonalities of the food insecurity experience as captured in 22 scales and related ethnographies derived from 15 different countries. The constant comparative method was used to code elements of the food insecurity experience expressed in the ethnographies and to regroup them into domains and subdomains. This typology was then applied to ascertain which experiential domains and subdomains were measured (or not) across all 22 studies. Survey data from 11 of the studies were then analyzed to assess similarities in the relative frequency with which culturally diverse households responded to questionnaire items related to these common domains/subdomains. The analysis confirmed that insufficient food quantity, inadequate food quality, and uncertainty and worry about food were a significant part of the food insecurity experience in all sampled cultures; concerns about social unacceptability emerged in all ethnographic accounts. Several subdomains were identified, such as concern over food safety and meal pattern disruption, with potentially important consequences for physical and psychological well-being. The comparative survey data showed that the relative frequency at which populations responded to domain-related questionnaire items was similar across all but a few cultures. Future food insecurity assessments should consider these core domains and subdomains as the starting point for measures that can generate rich information to inform food security policies and programs.
Since 1992, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has led a collaborative effort to develop a comprehensive benchmark measure of the severity and prevalence of food insecurity and hunger in the United States. Based on prior research and wide consultation, a survey instrument specifically relevant to U.S. conditions was designed and tested. Through its Current Population Survey (CPS), the U.S. Bureau of the Census has fielded this instrument each year since 1995. A measurement scale was derived from the data through fitting, testing and validating a Rasch scale. The unidimensional Rasch model corresponds to the form of the phenomenon being measured, i.e., the severity of food insufficiency due to inadequate resources as directly experienced and reported in U.S. households. A categorical measure reflecting designated ranges of severity on the scale was constructed for consistent comparison of prevalence estimates over time and across population groups. The technical basis and initial results of the new measure were reported in September 1997. For the 12 months ending April 1995, an estimated 11.9% of U.S. households (35 million persons) were food insecure. Among these, 4.1% of households (with 6.9 million adults and 4.3 million children) showed a recurring pattern of hunger due to inadequate resources for one or more of their adult and/or child members sometime during the period. The new measure has been incorporated into other federal surveys and is being used by researchers throughout the U.S. and Canada.
The lack of an operational definition for hunger has been frequently cited as a barrier to progress in addressing the problem. The purposes of this research were to develop an understanding of hunger from the perspective of women who had experienced it and to construct and evaluate indicators to measure hunger directly in similar populations. In-depth interviews were conducted with 32 women of childbearing age from rural and urban areas of Upstate New York. Qualitative analysis of the responses yielded a conceptualization of hunger that included two levels: the individual and household. Hunger at each of these levels had quantitative, qualitative, psychological and social components. These women also viewed hunger as a managed process. Based on this conceptualization of hunger, survey items were developed and evaluated, using data from a questionnaire administered to 189 women from the same geographical area. Three scales, one each for household, women's, and children's hunger, emerged and were found to be valid and reliable indicators for measuring hunger directly in this population.
Controversy exists over whether to target public- and private-sector programs to female-headed households in developing countries in the attempt to combat poverty and social disadvantage. The issues related to the definition and measurement of female headship and the importance of the concept for development policy are discussed. A systematic review is then presented of the empirical evidence on the relation between female headship and poverty. If female-headed households tend to be poorer on average than other households headship should seriously be considered as a potentially useful criterion for targeting antipoverty interventions especially in developing countries where means testing is not feasible. The authors examine the potential costs and benefits of targeting female headship and review the experience of Chile one of the few countries which has targeted female headship through government intervention and the only one which has evaluation data available. The analysis of the project experience is used along with a review of the empirical evidence to answer the question of the desirability and efficiency of targeting female headship in order to reduce poverty in developing countries.
General guidelines are presented for the use of cluster-sample surveys for health surveys in developing countries. The emphasis is on methods which can be used by practitioners with little statistical expertise and no background in sampling. A simple self-weighting design is used, based on that used by the World Health Organization's Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI). Topics covered include sample design, methods of random selection of areas and households, sample-size calculation and the estimation of proportions, ratios and means with standard errors appropriate to the design. Extensions are discussed, including stratification and multiple stages of selection. Particular attention is paid to allowing for the structure of the survey in estimating sample size, using the design effect and the rate of homogeneity. Guidance is given on possible values for these parameters. A spreadsheet is included for the calculation of standard errors.
Despite widespread concern about hunger in America, efforts to monitor and assess the extent of hunger have been hampered by lack of consensus on an appropriate meaning for the term hunger and by the lack of valid indicators to assess it. The first phase of the research used qualitative methods to derive a socially-appropriate definition of hunger. Thirty-two women in Upstate New York were interviewed regarding their experience with food problems and hunger. The interviews were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Results indicated that women had a narrow and a broad concept of hunger. The narrow concept focused on going without food for a specified period of time and the physical sensation of hunger. The broad one included two dimensions: household and individual hunger. Each had quantitative, qualitative, psychological, and social components. The second phase of the research used survey methodology to examine the validity and reliability of items designed to measure the conceptual definition of hunger. The survey was administered to 189 women in Upstate New York who participated in programs designed for low-income households or households in need of food. The second phase confirmed the conceptualization of hunger developed in the first phase. A subset of valid and reliable items that represented each of the major dimensions and components of hunger was identified as being useful for monitoring and assessing hunger.
Since 1992, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has led a collaborative effort to develop a comprehensive benchmark measure of the severity and prevalence of food insecurity and hunger in the United States. Based on prior research and wide consultation, a survey instrument specifically relevant to U.S. conditions was designed and tested. Through its Current Population Survey (CPS), the U.S. Bureau of the Census has fielded this instrument each year since 1995. A measurement scale was derived from the data through fitting, testing and validating a Rasch scale. The unidimensional Rasch model corresponds to the form of the phenomenon being measured, i.e., the severity of food insufficiency due to inadequate resources as directly experienced and reported in U.S. households. A categorical measure reflecting designated ranges of severity on the scale was constructed for consistent comparison of prevalence estimates over time and across population groups. The technical basis and initial results of the new measure were reported in September 1997. For the 12 months ending April 1995, an estimated 11.9% of U.S. households (35 million persons) were food insecure. Among these, 4.1% of households (with 6.9 million adults and 4.3 million children) showed a recurring pattern of hunger due to inadequate resources for one or more of their adult and/or child members sometime during the period. The new measure has been incorporated into other federal surveys and is being used by researchers throughout the U.S. and Canada.
This study investigated food intake patterns and contextual factors related to household food insecurity with hunger among a sample of 153 women in families seeking charitable food assistance in Toronto. Women in households characterized by food insecurity with severe or moderate hunger over the past 30 d (as assessed by the Food Security Module) reported lower intakes of vegetables and fruit, and meat and alternatives than those in households with no hunger evident. Women were more likely to report household food insecurity with hunger over the past 12 mo and 30 d if they also reported longstanding health problems or activity limitations, or if they were socially isolated. The circumstances that women identified as precipitating acute food shortages in their households included chronically inadequate incomes; the need to meet additional, unusual expenditures; and the need to pay for other services or accumulated debts. Women who reported delaying payments of bills, giving up services, selling or pawning possessions, or sending children elsewhere for a meal when threatened with acute food shortages were more likely to report household food insecurity with hunger. These findings suggest that expenditures on other goods and services were sometimes foregone to free up money for food, but the reverse was also true. Household food insecurity appears inextricably linked to financial insecurity.
Nutritional problems like protein energy malnutrition (PEM), anemia and vitamin A deficiency continue to plague a large proportion of Indian children. The diets and nutritional status of urban slum children in India is far away from being satisfactory. The nutritional status of slum children is worst amongst all urban groups and is even poorer than the rural average. Urban migration has not provided them salvation from poverty and undernutrition. Another distressing feature is the lack of any significant improvement over the years in this population. Most common causes of malnutrition include faulty infant feeding practices, impaired utilization of nutrients due to infections and parasites, inadequate food and health security, poor environmental conditions and lack of proper child care practices. High prevalence of malnutrition among young children is also due to lack of awareness and knowledge regarding their food requirements and absence of a responsible adult care giver. With increasing urban migration in the years ahead, the problem of malnutrition in urban slums will also acquire increasing dimension unless special efforts are initiated to mitigate the health and nutrition problems of the urban poor. Improving nutritional status of urban poor requires a more direct, more focused, and more integrated strategy.
The growth of India's economy during the past decade has had little effect on the nutritional status of its youngest citizens. Even in affluent states, the percentage of underweight children younger than 3 years has risen over the past 10 years. Patralekha Chatterjee reports.
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