Factors associated with household food security in Uganda

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess factors related to food security among households in Uganda using odds as well as marginal effects derived from logistic regression. These factors were grouped into farm characteristics, economic characteristics and demographic factors. The study utilized secondary data derived from the Uganda Census of Agriculture 2008/9 conducted by the Uganda Bureau of statistics. The two-stage stratified cluster sampling design was employed with 3606 enumeration areas selected countrywide from which agricultural holdings were selected using probability proportional to size. In the findings, the gap between food secure (57.0%) households and insecure households (43.0%) was noted to be significant (p<0.05) and this was attributed to characteristics namely; storage facility, distance to nearest market, use of fertilizers, credit access, membership, nature of work, age group, level of education, household size, marital status and region of residence. High food security margins were noted regarding Level of education with farmers who had attained primary, secondary, diploma and degree levels being 5.2%, 16.7%, 23.1% and 24.6% more likely to be food secure compared to farmers who had never attended school. Farmers who engaged in unpaid work and task work were 8.6% and 11.5% less likely to be food secure compared to those engaged in their own account work. Age groups 20-39 and above 40 years were 4.0% and 1.7% more likely to be food secure compared to teenagers while households that lived at least 7km from the nearest market were 2.3% less likely to be food secure compared to those situated within 7km. Furthermore, households that did not access credit services were about 8.3% less likely to be food secure compared to those that had access to credit services. In light of the findings, there is need for the government and other key stakeholders to invest in educating farmers about improved agricultural practices, provide affordable credit schemes with flexible payment terms, and develop community markets to help farmers especially in rural areas cut down on the costs of transporting their agricultural produce that is usually bulky and perishable