Abstract:
Food security is a complex and multi-dimensional
phenomenon. As such, its measurement may entail and benefit from
the combination of both "qualitative-subjective" and "quantitative
objective" indicators. Yet, the evidence or external validity of
"subjective" type information is scarce, especially using
representative surveys. The objective of this paper is to examine the
estimators on the effectiveness of the food security indicators in
ensuring rural food security and poverty reduction in the Lake
Victoria basin of Kenya. The study looks at the indicators of food
security which relies on aggregate measurement of food availability
based on primary data on a field survey carried out in three districts
of Kuria, Siaya and Kisumu in Kenya. Using logistic regression
model the results show that food security is spatially clustered and
factors such as variations in landholding, per capita production,
gender of the household head, use of fertilizers and pesticide, and the
income of the family are some of the factors that are found to
influence spatial clustering of food insecurity. We also find a strong
and significant spatial dependency among foodinsecure districts. The
prediction of household food security status compares well with the
overall foodbalance sheets of the entire region. Analysis reveals that
affecting the use of seven significant determinants, size of the
household, gender of household head, pesticideslherbicides, land use,
per capita aggregate production, total expenditure on food and the
diversity ratio have significant changes in the foodsecurity status of
a household
