Food Insecurity and Related Factors among Farming Families in Takhar Region, Afghanistan

Sayed Alim Samim, Zhiquan Hu, Sebastian Stepien, Sayed Younus Amini, Ramin Rayee, Kunyu Niu and George Mgendi
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Sayed Alim Samim: Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Zhiquan Hu: Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Sebastian Stepien: Department of Macroeconomics and Agricultural Economics, Institute of Economics, Poznan University of Economics and Business, 61-875 Poznan, Poland
Sayed Younus Amini: Faculty of Agriculture, Takhar University, Takhar 3702, Afghanistan
Ramin Rayee: Faculty of Agriculture, Takhar University, Takhar 3702, Afghanistan
Kunyu Niu: Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
George Mgendi: Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-17

Abstract: Improved food security remains a major challenge for policymakers in Afghanistan. The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence and drivers of food insecurity among farming households in the Takhar region of Afghanistan. Household questionnaire survey datasets were obtained from 262 farmers via multi-stage sampling across four districts. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) was constructed to assess the prevalence of food insecurity, and an ordered probit econometric model was used to identify the factors influencing the prevalence rates in farming families. The findings indicate that 66.79% of the farming households were food insecure, whilst 30.53% were severely food insecure. After adjustment of socio-economic and demographic characteristics of families, the ordered probit results reveals that household head education, dependency ratio, farm income, access to non-agricultural income, livestock unit, group membership, borrowing, farm diseases, flood, and war significantly influenced farming households’ food insecurity in the study area. Our findings highlight the urgent requirement for policies and initiatives to support farmers to improve their overall food security. Such strategies should focus on introducing improved farming techniques, enhancing farmer education levels, livestock development programs, building and empowering farmers groups, creating credit access to households, and providing humanitarian food support.

Keywords: food insecurity; food insecurity drivers; farming households; Afghanistan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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