Household Food Access Security Along The Urban-Rural Continuum In Morogoro And Iringa, Tanzania

ABSTRACT

The study on which this manuscript is based was done along the urban-rural continuum (urban, peri-urban and rural) in Morogoro and Iringa to assess household food access security. Specifically, the study sought to: (1) assess the prevalence of household food access insecurity along the urban-rural continuum, (2) determine constraints to household food access security, (3) examine coping strategies and resilience to food access insecurity along the continuum, and (4) assess the influence of households’ asset ownership on food access security. A cross-sectional research design with a three-stage sampling technique was employed whereby data were collected in 279 households from November 2015 to April 2016. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results showed that food access insecurity was more prevalent among rural households as compared among their counterparts in urban and peri-urban settings (p ≤ 0.001). Also, findings showed great variations in constraints to food access security, food access insecurity coping strategies and household asset ownership along the continuum. Using a binary logistic regression model, it was found that a household head’s education and number of members earning income had a positive relationship with a household’s food access security (p ≤ 0.05), whereas household size (β = -0.408; p ≤ 0.01), proportion of consumption expenditure on food (β = -0.151; p ≤ 0.001), and reliance on donations (β = -3.770; p ≤ 0.01) were inversely related with a household’s food access security. It is thus concluded that the prevalence of and constraints to household food access security as well as food access coping strategies and asset ownership vary among households along the continuum. Additionally, as household head’s education and number of household members earning income increase a household’s food access security improves. On the other hand, large households, higher proportions of consumption expenditure on food and reliance on donations tend to worsen

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a household’s food access security. It is, therefore, recommended that households should focus more on assets that improve their food access security and control those factors that weaken food access security.