Prevalence and Associated Factors of Food Insecurity among Women Garment Factory Workers in Bangladesh

Sadika Sharmin^{1, 2,} , Noor Aman Bin A. Hamid³ and Wan Abdul Manan Bin Wan Muda²

¹Department of Rural Sociology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, P.O. Box-2202, Mymensingh, Bangladesh

²Programme in Nutrition, School of Health Science, University Sains Malaysia, P.O.Box-16150, Kelantan, Malaysia

³Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Science, University Sains Malaysia, P.O.Box-16150, Kelantan, Malaysia

Cite this paper

Sadika Sharmin, Noor Aman Bin A. Hamid and Wan Abdul Manan Bin Wan Muda. Prevalence and Associated Factors of Food Insecurity among Women Garment Factory Workers in Bangladesh. Journal of Food Security. 2019; 7(1):28-32. doi: 10.12691/JFS-7-1-5

Abstract

A significant number of female workers (1.6 million) are employed in different types of garment factories. Garment factory workers in Bangladesh are the lowest paid workers in the world. Achieving food security and other basic needs are a challenge due to financial constraints. The purpose of this study was to examine the food insecurity of women garment factory workers in Bangladesh. The study was carried out using a cross-sectional survey. The validated Bengali version of the Cornell-Radimer questionnaire was used for the purpose of collecting data on food insecurity. Logistic regression was performed to assess the association of food insecurity with socio-demographic, socio-economic and working condition variables. The results found that 71.9 percent of the women garment factory workers’ households faced food insecurity and 28.1 percent were food secure. Household size (OR2.02, 95% CI, 1.52-2.69, P=<0.001), being the head of the household (OR 0.42, 95% CI, 0.21- 0.82, P=0.012), and job satisfaction felt by the respondents (OR 0.50, 95% CI, 0.32-0.79, P= 0.003) were associated factors linked to food insecurity of women garment factory workers. To maintain food security, the government should raise the workers’ salary in tandem with the food prices in the market. Overtime salary per hour should be increased and proper payment of extra working hours should be ensured.

Keywords

food insecurity, women garment factory workers, prevalence, Bangladesh

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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