Household food [in]security can be defined as the concept that underpins the various notions of relative food deprivation ranging from hunger, famine and malnutrition to seasonal shortages. The concept is also used to analyse and explain very different and complex livelihood realities at particular and local levels. Since the term emerged in the 1980s, it has gone through many changes and redefinition, but in this article the aim is to make general links to the geographies of food and other livelihood deprivations. The recent debates on livelihoods and participation link closely to the practical concerns around household food security. This article aims to present analysis that brings together regional understanding with insights into heterogeneity and the diversification of livelihoods and household food security in a particular region in Zimbabwe. Its argument is that such a multi-scale analysis can give a fuller and more useful understanding of the differences and dynamics in household food security and therefore livelihood prospects in general. The regional political economy approach provides insight into the major external impacts in the region. The two most important of these have been the introduction of cotton and in-migration, both occurring since the 1960s. A second level of analysis focuses on social relations and, hence, institutional developments within the region. These were relatively incomplete until the 1990s and since then the external forces, including the state and market forces, have determined the direction and emphasis of development in the region. Finally, the regional geography approach enables analysis of the local situation from cultural and identity perspectives. The livelihood possibilities are therefore related to social realities within and among the households. In conclusion, such regional empirical focus helps to give a fuller assessment of the unfolding household food security situation in northwestern Zimbabwe.1338 Livelihoods, household food security and regional geography
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