Journal of Food Security

In this paper we identify seven of the most food insecure countries of the developing world according to FAO data. These seven countries fall within both the quartile of developing countries with the highest prevalence of undernourishment and the quartile of developing countries with the highest increase in prevalence of undernourishment within the most recent five-year period recorded by the FAO. We provide a set of graphs and figures to further inform the relative position of these countries, as well as a comparison of determinants and measures of food security for these countries and the rest of the developing world. One relationship that is emphasized is the positive relationship between political stability and food security.

Journal of Food Security. 2015, 3(1), 29-33. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-3-1-5
Pub. Date: April 09, 2015

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Does Consumer Price Index Affect Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa?

by Coulibaly Abdoulaye, Wang LanHui and Mukete Beckline

Review Article

Food security is a major global issue with over a billion people believed to lack sufficient dietary access while others suffer from micronutrient deficiencies. In Sub-Saharan Africa, food insecurity is further exacerbated by climate change scenarios, absence of appropriate storage facilities and increase in transportation costs. These deeply impact traditional farming methods and livelihoods there by restricting access to sufficient food hence leaving people in constant food crisis. This paper assesses the influence of consumer price index (CPI) on food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is based on the premise that, consumer spending of households is often influenced by price elasticity (changes in food prices) with a consequence on household incomes. The study found out that, food price inflation has increased in many Sub-Saharan African countries; pushing up CPIs with ripple effects on households and on the macro economy. This has a direct consequence on the already weakened household purchasing power thus exposing these households to food insecurity. Therefore, the potential impacts of price elasticity in relation to CPI is a fundamental food security issue.

Journal of Food Security. 2015, 3(1), 25-28. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-3-1-4
Pub. Date: April 09, 2015

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Spatial Distribution of Food Poverty Incidence in Juba Town: A geo-statistical Assessment

by David Lomeling and Rita Nyoka Wani

Original Research

Food and nutrition security survey based on a representative sample of the population of Juba Town was conducted from October to November 2010. The survey covered four localities: Gudele, Juba na Bari, Kator and Munuki. Daily calorie intake using a one day 24-hour diet recall varied between 500 to 3,500 Kcal as a function of monthly income. Spatial distribution of food poverty incidence as well as daily calorific values were geo-statistically analyzed using a GS+^TM Version 9 software. Results showed that about 13.2% of the households with incomes less than 500 SDG/month were severely food insecure with constant hunger,41.5% of the households with incomes between 350-800 SDG/month were food insecure with moderate hunger; 35.8% of the households with incomes between 850-1850 SDG/month were food insecure but without hunger; and 9.4% of the households with incomes between 1,850 and 4,000 SDG/month were food secure. Isotropic variogram of food poverty incidence showed a 46.6% moderate spatial dependency with a relatively low correlation coefficient of r2=0.15 and a range A₀ of 8.8 km suggesting a wide radius of even food poverty levels across much of Juba Town. Meanwhile the estimated daily per capita calorific values also showed moderate spatial dependency of 60.3% and a small range A₀at 2.3 km. Food poverty incidence at low correlation coefficient r2=0.02 positively correlated with family size and negatively correlated at r2=0.17 with the per capita food consumption. Monetary indicator was used to assess food poverty with the Gini coefficient at 0.32. This unequal income distribution suggested the vulnerability of most households to food insecurity. However, most low income households with less freedom of choice easily compensated their dietary diversity and calorific values through appropriate food preparation methods.

Journal of Food Security. 2015, 3(1), 11-24. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-3-1-3
Pub. Date: March 06, 2015

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Coping Strategies Adopted by Households to Prevent Food Insecurity in Urban Slums of Delhi, India

by Palak Gupta, Kalyani Singh, Veenu Seth, Sidharth Agarwal and Pulkit Mathur

Original Research

Background: The study tried to identify coping strategies adopted by urban slum dwellers to prevent the situation of food insecurity. Methods: A household-based cross-sectional study on a sample of 446 households was conducted. Structured interview schedule was used to collect data on coping strategies along with group discussions. Standard univariate analysis was done using SPSS (version-16). Results: Unique coping strategies were found to be adopted by households. Strategies included relying on less expensive foods like seasonal or locally available vegetables, limiting portion size of meals and reducing numbers of meals eaten in a day. To increase short-term availability of food, households borrowed food or lend money from friends or relatives, bought food on credit from private grocery shops, used reserves, and relied on food aid. Households ate at religious places in an attempt to increase access to food, withdrew children from school to save money on the school fees and also sent children to work. In case of extreme insecurity, migration was observed. Conclusions: Coping strategies used by the households can be seen as an expression of negotiated decisions to minimize the impact of food insecurity in the households. Hence, understanding these food insecurity coping strategies could be a good starting point to develop and formulate community based contextually sensitive interventions to improve household food insecurity.

Journal of Food Security. 2015, 3(1), 6-10. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-3-1-2
Pub. Date: February 20, 2015

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Towards Sustainable Intensification of Sesame-based Cropping Systems Diversification in Northwestern India

by Anthony Oyeogbe, Ranti Ogunshakin, Shravansinh Vaghela and Babubhai Patel

Original Research

Despite being largely self-sufficient in food production, Indian agriculture currently faces a slew of problems- productivity is in decline; income gap between farmers and the rest of the workforce is widening and the incessant conversion of agricultural lands into urban landscapes is threatening agricultural intensification. This rapid urbanization coupled with unpredictable climate changes, will put added pressures on land and food. Sesame (SesamumindicumL.) is one of the most versatile and survivor crops that can be grown in semi-arid and arid regions. It has unique attributes that can fit almost any cropping system being a short duration crop with a potential to sustainable intensify crop production through crop diversification.This evidently indicates the potentiality for improvement in yield. We investigated the productivity of sesame sown as sole crop, intercrop and as a sequence crop to enhance its cropping system intensification with the following objectives (i) to identify different sesame-based cropping systems with high productivity and profitability to suit the specific needs of North Gujarat agro ecosystems (ii) the best sustainableland use efficiency as influenced by sesame-based cropping systems intensification. Our result showed that higher system productivity based on sesame equivalent yield (SEY), system profitabilityin terms of net realization to the growing year and land use efficiency was recorded in sesame + groundnut – castor (8.0 kg/ha/day;Rs. 298.3/ha/dayand 79.7%), sesame + greengram – castor systems (7.9 kg/ha/day;Rs. 297.0/ha/dayand 74%), sesame – castor (7.3 kg/ha/day;Rs. 274.7/ha/dayand 74%) and sesame + hybrid cotton (5.3kg/ha/day;Rs. 204.5/ha/dayand 86%) cropping systems respectively. We concluded that the intensification of sesame-based cropping system could help farmers adapt to the changing climate with greater resilience, net primary productivity and enhanced income through crop(s) diversification. One that emphasizes a climate-smart agriculture strategy for food security, mitigation and adaptation.

Journal of Food Security. 2015, 3(1), 1-5. DOI: 10.12691/jfs-3-1-1
Pub. Date: January 25, 2015

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