Determinants of household food security in a rangeland area of Uganda
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Date
2017
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Journal of Rural Development (AFJRD)
Abstract
Pastoralists and agro-pastoralists operating in the rangelands of Uganda remain food insecure. This
study determined the status of household food security in Nakaseke district, Uganda. A cross-sectional
survey was conducted in February 2016 among 180 randomly selected households. Two measures
of food security; a Self-Reported Food Security Status Index (RFSI) and a multi-dimensional index
generated through the Principal Component Analysis (PCAI) were used. Ordinary Least Squares
(OLS) regressions were performed to identify important determinants. Results showed that 46.8% of
the households were food insecure. The perceived peak period for food shortage was between July and
August. Most households (95.1%) met their food needs through off-farm sources. Age of household
head, educational level of household head, off-farm/ non-farm income, cross-breeding and livestock
ownership positively influenced household food security (p≤0.05). The sex of household head,
household size (AE) and absence of credit negatively influenced household food security (p≤0.05).
It is proposed that a suit of actions including income diversification through participation in offfarm
activities, increasing access to education, encouraging crop-livestock integration and improving
livestock productivity be used to improve household food security in this rangeland area of Uganda.
Description
Keywords
Cattle corridor, Food stocks, Livestock ownership, Pastoralism, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Uganda
Citation
Betty, M., Anthony, E., & David, M. (2017). Determinants of household food security in a rangeland area of Uganda. African Journal of Rural Development (AFJRD) , 2 (1978-2017-1914), 213-223.