Gender Dimensions of Food Security among Households in Rural Eswatini
Abstract
The purpose of the paper is to examine gender iniquity in food insecurity among rural households (male- and female-headed) in Eswatini (Swaziland). Promoting gender equality to improve food security in developing countries is important for inclusive development. However, studies focusing on gender issues in Eswatini are very few, hence the need for this study. The paper used data from the Eswatini Household Income and Expenditure Survey (EHIES) of 2016 and 2017 with a sample of 2543 rural households. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analysis were employed as analytical methods to generate results on households’ socioeconomic characteristics and the determinants of food security. Findings indicate that some socioeconomic differences exist between female and male-headed households. While more men are employed in the formal sector, women are more self-employed than men. Women head of households are relatively older and have larger families than men head of households. These gender differences expose women more to food insecurity than men. About 65% of these households were food insecure, with 55% of them being female-headed. Some of the determinants of food insecurity among male-headed households include marital status, household size, and non-food expenditure, while those for female-headed households are household size and non-food expenditure. The implication of the findings is that women are generally more vulnerable and poorer than men in the study area. In order to reduce food insecurity among female-headed households, women need to be more empowered through education and income-earning opportunities to feed their large families and meet other non-food obligations. This paper unravels the importance of gender and how this should be considered in designing welfare programs as men and women will be impacted differently. Thus, more studies need to be conducted on key drivers of food security outside the demographic characteristics of respondents.
Keywords: Eswatini, food security, gender, rural household, welfare.
Full Text:
PDFReferences
AGARWAL, B., ANTHWAL, P., & MAHESH, M. (2021). How many and which women own land in India? Inter- and intra-gender gaps. The Journal of Development Studies, 57(11), pp. 1807-1829. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2021.1887478
ARAGON, J., & MILLER, M. (2018). Global women's issues: Women in the world today, extended version. British Columbia Campus.
BHANDARI, A. (2019). Gender inequality in mobile technology access: The role of economic and social development. Information, Communication & Society, 22(5), pp. 678-694. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1563206
BURCHI, F., & DE MURO, P. (2016). From food availability to nutritional capabilities: Advancing food security analysis. Food Policy, 60, pp. 10-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.03.008
CARRANZA, M., & NILES, M.T. (2019). Smallholder farmers spend credit primarily on food: gender differences and food security implications in a changing climate. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 3, art. 56. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00056
DEL RIO, C., & SALAZAR, L. (2017). What is the role of women in food security? Inter-American Development Bank. Retrieved from https://blogs.iadb.org/sostenibilidad/en/cual-es-el-rol-de-la-mujer-en-la-seguridad-alimentaria-2/
FAN, S., & SWINNEN, J. (2020). Global food policy report: Building inclusive food systems. International Food Policy Research Institute. https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896293670
FIRDAUS, R.B.R., GUNARATNE, M.S., RAHMAT, R.S., KAMSI, N.S., & YILDIZ, F. (2019). Does climate only affect food availability? What else matters? Cogent Food & Agriculture. 5(1), pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2019.1707607
FAO (2018). The state of food security and nutrition in the World: The multiple dimensions of food security. Food and Agriculture Organization.
GARCÍA-DÍEZ, J., GONÇALVES, C., GRISPOLDI, L., CENCI-GOGA, B., & SARAIVA, C. (2021). Determining food stability to achieve food security. Sustainability, 13(13), art. 7222. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137222
HWALLA, N., EL LABBAN, S., & BAHN, R.A. (2016). Nutrition security is an integral component of food security. Frontiers in Life Science, 9(3), pp. 167-172. https://doi.org/10.1080/21553769.2016.1209133
JOST, C., KYAZZE, F., NAAB, J., NEELORMI, S., KINYANGI, J., ZOUGMORE, R., & KRISTJANSO, S.N. (2016). Understanding gender dimensions of agriculture and climate change in smallholder farming communities, Climate and Development. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 8(2), pp. 133-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2015.1050978
KANE, S., KOK, M., RIAL, M., MATERE, A., DIELEMAN, M., & BROERSE, J.E. (2016). Social norms and family planning decisions in South Sudan. BMC Public Health, 16(1), art. 1183. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3839-6
MABUZA, M.L., ORTMANN, G.F., & MUTENJE, M.J. (2016). The effect of major income sources on rural household food (in) security: Evidence from Swaziland and implications for policy. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 55(2), pp. 209-230. https://doi.org/10.1080/03670244.2015.1121482
MABUZA, N., & MAMBA, S.F. (2022). Food insecurity, food insecurity determinants and coping strategies in the urban space – The experience of low income households of Msunduza in Mbabane. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 6(1), art. 100271. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2022.100271
MAPIYE, O., CHIKWANHA, O.C., MAKOMBE, G., DZAMA, K., & MAPIYE, C. (2020). Livelihood, food and nutrition security in Southern Africa: what role do indigenous cattle genetic resources play? Diversity, 12(2), art. 74. https://doi.org/10.3390/d12020074
MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT (2016). Macroeconomic analysis and research division. E-bulletin Q3 2016. The Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini. Retrieved from https://www.gov.sz/images/vv.pdf
NDLOVU, T., and MJIMBA, V. (2021). Drought risk-reduction and gender dynamics in communal cattle farming in southern Zimbabwe. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 58, art. 102203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102203
NKEGBE, P.K., ABU, B.M., and ISSAHAKU, H. (2017). Food security in the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority Zone of Ghana: an ordered probit with household hunger scale approach. Agriculture & Food Security, 6(1), pp. 1-11. Retrieved from https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/101605/
OBAYELU, O.A., & OSHO, F.R. (2020). How diverse are the diets of low-income urban households in Nigeria? Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 2, art. 100018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2019.100018
OLUWATAYO, I., MARUTHA, M., and MODIKA, M.P. (2020). Food security in South Africa: are the correlations the same for rural and urban households? Food Research, 5, pp. 36-42. https://doi.org/10.10.26656/fr.2017.5(1).298
OLUWATAYO, I.B., & OJO, A.O. (2018). Food Insecurity and the rising urbanisation in Africa: Can ICT revolution bridge the GAP. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 10(1), pp. 217-223. https://doi.org/10.22610/jebs.v10i1(J).2104
OXFAM (2019). Gender inequalities and food insecurity: Ten years after the food crisis, why are women farmers still food-insecure? Oxfam Briefing paper. https://doi.org/10.21201/2019.4375
PATHAK, A. (2022). Rural women in agricultural and household practices: An overview. International Journal of Home Science, 8(2), pp. 126-130. Retrieved from https://www.homesciencejournal.com/archives/2022/vol8issue2/PartC/8-2-30-126.pdf
SAVARY, S., AKTER, S., ALMEKINDERS, C., HARRIS, J., KORSTEN, L., RÖTTER, R., WADDINGTON, S., and WATSON, D. (2020). Mapping disruption and resilience mechanisms in food systems. Food Security, 12, pp. 695–717. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-020-01093-0
SISHA, T.A. (2020). Household level food insecurity assessment: Evidence from panel data, Ethiopia. Scientific African, 7, art. e00262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2019.e00262
STAVI, I., ROQUE DE PINHO, J., PASCHALIDOU, A.K., ADAMO, S.B., GALVIN, K., De SHERBININ, A., EVEN, T., HEAVISIDE, C., and VAN DER GEEST, K. (2021). Food security among dryland pastoralists and agropastoralists: The climate, land-use change, and population dynamics nexus. The Anthropocene Review, 9(3), pp. 299–323. https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196211007512
TEVERA, D., & SIMELANE, N. (2016). The state of food insecurity in Manzini, Swaziland. Southern African Migration Programme.
THAPA, S., & ACHARYA, S. (2017). Remittances and household expenditure in Nepal: Evidence from cross-section data. Economies, 5(2), art. 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies5020016
UNICEF (2019). The state of food security and nutrition in the world. United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/media/55926/file/SOFI-2019-in-brief.pdf
WILSON, L (2020). What is food made of and why do we eat it? The Development Science And Nutritional Balancing. Retrieved from https://www.drlwilson.com/articles/FOOD-BASIC.htm
WORLD BANK (2018). Understanding poverty. World Bank. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/understanding-poverty
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (2019). WFP Swaziland country brief. OCHA. Retrieved from https://reliefweb.int/report/swaziland/wfp-eswatini-country-brief
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
