Determinants That Influence Household Food Security In the Lake Victoria Basin

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