Even the Rich go Hungry. Food Insecurity in the Highlands of Mt. Kenya

Abstract

Food insecurity is prevalent in most of the developing countries including Kenya.  The design and implementation of sustainable strategies in addressing food insecurity requires an in depth understanding of its covariates. As a result, this paper estimated covariates of perceived of food insecurity among households in the slopes of Mt. Kenya, an area perceived to be food secure. In order to achieve this objective, proportionate stratified sampling method was used to select sample in Ngariama location, Kirinyaga and simple random sampling was utilized to identify individual households. The study utilized cross sectional data and a structured questionnaire was administered to a sample of 372. Probit regression was utilized to estimate the effect of each covariate on food insecurity. The paper found that 26% of the respondents were food insecure. Households that had land with title deeds, households who were educated and higher chances of been food secure.

Keywords: Food insecurity, Probit Regression Model

DOI: 10.7176/FSQM/89-05

Publication date: August 31st 2019