Determinants of household food security in Lugari and Makueni sub-counties, Kenya

Abstract

The study was carried out to assess the determinants of household food security among households in Lugari and Makueni sub-Counties. Secondary household data collected from 2000 randomly selected households in both sub-counties by the Ministry of Agriculture under the NALEP program was used for analysis. Analytical techniques employed include descriptive statistics to analyze the characteristics of respondent households, and binary regression analysis using a probit model to examine the determinants of food security among the households surveyed. Among the variables considered in the model, household head age, household head education level, household size, land size per capita and house hold income (proxied by household expenditure) were found to significantly influence household food security. Consistent with a priori expectation, larger households were found to be food insecure compared with households with fewer household members, ceteris paribus. Also, consistent with findings from previous empirical studies, land size per capita, household income and household head education level were found to have significant positive effect on household food security. The study, therefore, recommends among others improved access to credit for rural households and diversification of household economic activities to include off-farm income generating businesses to improve food security at the household level.