Determinants of Food Security Among Rice Farming Households in the Province of Bali : An Ordered Logistic Model

Abstract

This study aims to investigate food security at household level and to identify the socio-economic factors that affect the levels of food security among households of lowland rice farmers. Research was conducted in three district centers of rice production in the province of Bali, i.e. Buleleng, Gianyar and Tabanan. Samples were taken by multistage sampling of 216 respondents consisting of 122 ICM alumni and 94 non-ICM alumni. The data for the study were obtained with the aid of a structured questionnaire survey randomly administered to rural farming households in the districts. Household food security was measured by cross classification of the share of food expenditure and consumption of energy. The socio-economic factors that affected household food security levels were estimated using ordered logistic regression. The result showed that in the aggregate 49.07% of the households were categorized as secure, 37.9% as vulnerable, 8.79% as insufficient, and 4.17% as insecure. The analysis showed that housewives education, incomes and household food reserves had a significantly positive effect on the level of food security whereas family size, the prices of rice and instant noodles had a significantly negative effect. The food security level of the ICM alumni was higher than that of the non-ICM alumni.

Keywords : food security, households, lowland rice, integrated crop management (ICM)