Measuring Household Food Security, Risk Factors and Coping Strategies among Rural Households in India

Sanjit Sarkar, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

The study measures food security at the household and examines the associated risk factors and coping strategies in rural setting in India. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 485 households in the rural area of Bankura district of West Bengal in India in 2013. A structured household module was used for the data collection. Bi-variate and multivariate techniques were applied for analysis. The study finds that only 20 percent households are food secure. Regression analysis indicates that likelihood of food security is higher to the households where head of the household have more than 10th standard of schooling. Likelihood of food security is low to the Scheduled caste households. Access to land and livestock in the household increase the likelihood of food security. Consume less expensive food, spend past saving cash, compromise with heath expenditure, borrow food from relatives are some coping mechanisms opted by households during food insecurity condition.