Determinants of Household Food Security in Murehwa District, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the determinants of household food security in agricultural regions which receive normal to above normal annual rainfall using Murehwa District as a case study. A logistic regression procedure was employed on household socio-economic cross-sectional data collected in 2010 (November and December). Of the ten variables fitted in the model; household size, farmland size, farmland quality, climatic adaptation and livestock ownership were found to be significant. Marginal effects showed that households that practised conservation agriculture, had good quality land and those owning bigger farmland and livestock were more likely to be food secure than their counterparts. However, bigger households were likely to be more food insecure than smaller ones. The results confirm the significance of both agro-climatic and socio-economic factors in determining household food security status. These results have important policy implications. Improving access to higher quality farmland through some redistributive land reforms; introduction of livestock restocking programmes at the household level, and encouraging the adoption of farming methods that curb the effects of climate change, can indeed improve the food security status of households.

Keywords: household, food security, logistic regression, Murehwa District