EFFECTS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS ON HOUSEHOLDS FOOD INSECURITY ALONG THE URBAN-RURAL CONTINUUM IN MOROGORO AND IRINGA, TANZANIA

Abstract

The study on which this paper is based assessed the socio-economic characteristics that influence prevalence of food insecurity among urban, peri-urban and rural households in Morogoro and Iringa, Tanzania. A cross-sectional research design was employed whereby a sample of 300 households was selected using a multi-stage cluster sampling procedure. The primary data were collected through interview schedules using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) tool. Descriptive analysis was carried out to examine the variation of food access as a measure of food insecurity and socio-economic characteristics that influence the prevalence of food insecurity among urban, peri-urban and rural households. Ordinal logistic regression model was employed to determine the influence of household’s socio-economic characteristics on food access. Generally, the results show that food access as a measure of food security was higher among urban households (53.9%) compared to peri-urban (47.3%) and rural households (25.8%) (p ≤ 0.001). Also, whereas age, education of household head and location of the household were directly associated with food access security, non-employment of household head was inversely related with food access security. It is concluded that household food access insecurity is a widespread phenomenon along the continuum although it is more prevalent in rural as compared to urban settings. Thus, it is recommended that appropriate interventions be carried out to improve household food access security mostly in rural areas.