Livelihoods and Food Security Among Rural Households in the North-Western Mount Kenya Region

Abstract

Food insecurity remains a major concern for numerous rural households in Sub-Saharan Africa who rely on agriculture as their main source of livelihood. The assessment of the links between food security and livelihoods is central for overcoming widespread food insecurity. However, assessments remain challenging due to food security's multi-dimensionality and the challenge of finding indicators that are comparable and applicable to various contexts. This study addresses this challenge by adapting a food security index (FSI) and uses it to assess the livelihood drivers of food security. The index captures the multi-dimensionality of food security using conventional food security indicators. The assessed indicators include measures of "food consumption score," "household dietary diversity score," "coping strategies index," the "household food insecurity access scale," and "months of adequate household food provisioning." The study covered 600 randomly selected households representative of three agro-ecological zones located close to large-scale agricultural investment in Mount Kenya region in Kenya. We used linear regression to identify livelihood factors significantly influencing food security. Spearman's rank-order correlation and student's T-test demonstrated a strong and significant correlation between the composite FSI index and each classical indicators of food security. Overall, 32% of the households were food secure and 68% were food insecure. Households' ownership of productive hand tools, followed by off-farm income, consumption of own produced food, type of agro-ecological zone, farm income and number of main crops infested by pests had a significant effect on household food security. All these factors, except the number of main crops infested by pests, were found to positively influence household food security. Households in humid agro-ecological zone were less food secure than households in semi-humid and semi-arid zones. Household size, the size of accessible land and households' members' participation to large agricultural investments (as wage workers or subcontract farmer) were not significantly influencing food security. Households of the Mount Kenya region need alternative off-farm income sources combined with further support to improve sustainable agriculture management with appropriate hand tools.

Linking Household Food Security and Food Value Chains in North West Mt. Kenya

“…Pastoralists live in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) that are drier than the humid and semi-humid agro-ecological zones where the smallholder wheat and dairy farmers largely live. Previous studies [29,30] have reported high rates of food insecurity among households in the ASALs compared to the less food insecure households in the humid and semi-humid agro-ecological zones [31].…”

Effectiveness of fertilizer policy reforms to enhance food security in Kenya: a macro–micro simulation analysis

“…The share of food-insecure households is as high as 68% in some regions of Kenya (Mutea et al 2019). In absolute terms, the number of undernourished Kenyan people increased from 10.2 million in 2004-2006to 14.6 million in 2016(FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP & WHO 2019.…”

Well-Designed Food Governance as Psychological Mechanism of Consumer Perceptions in the Context of Tourism Poverty Alleviation

“…In sub-Saharan Africa, food security and agricultural productivity among small-scale farmers determine food security and the livelihoods of rural households. With reference to the aforementioned, Mutea et al ( 2019 ) find that solving food security challenges in rural agro-dependent communities requires an appreciation of the link between food insecurity and livelihood. In particular, the study relies on the food security index to determine food security and livelihood drivers.…”