scholarly journals Social Inequalities and Famine and Severe Food Insecurity Risk

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Becky Carter ◽  
Luke Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
National Level ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Rapid Review ◽  
Social Characteristics ◽  
Regional Food ◽  
Household Level ◽  
The Impact

This rapid review summarises the evidence on the ways in which social inequalities and discrimination affect the risk of famine or severe food insecurity. Looking at the risk at the national and sub-national level, gender and other horizontal inequities can affect a society’s risk of violent conflict and therefore food insecurity, while fragile livelihoods associated with ethnic marginalisation can impact regional food security. At the individual and household level, there is a lack of disaggregated data on people’s social characteristics and famines. There is a broader literature on the impact of systemic discrimination (based on gender, age, disability, sexuality, and ethnic identity) on individuals’ and households’ livelihoods and assets, thereby increasing their vulnerability to food insecurity. A key finding from the literature is the gender gap, with women more at risk of being food insecure than men. Also, some ethnic groups are highly vulnerable particularly in conflict-related famines; starvation is used as a warfare tactic in political and ethnic conflicts. There is evidence of how social inequalities heighten individuals’ risks during food crises and famines, including through exposure to protection threats, while limiting their access to essential services and humanitarian assistance. A broad range of measures seeks to address the multi-dimensional ways in which social inequalities affect vulnerability and resilience to food insecurity.

scholarly journals The Drivers of Acute Food Insecurity and the Risk of Famine

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evert-jan Quak
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Food System ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
National Level ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Acute Malnutrition ◽  
Rapid Review ◽  
Key Dimensions

This rapid review synthesises the literature from academic, policy, and knowledge institution sources on the drivers of acute food insecurity and famines with a focus on key FCDO-partner countries. This review builds further on evidence already collected in other K4D helpdesk reports. The main conclusion of this rapid review is that the drivers of acute food insecurity are complex, often involving multiple and interrelated factors. The drivers for chronical food insecurity and acute food insecurity cannot be separated entirely from each other, as the evidence shows that slow-onset determinants of food insecurity could play a critical role during an event (or multiple events) that could trigger a food emergency. The literature shows that the political economy (e.g. food system governance or preparedness of institutions to disasters) and socioeconomic dynamics (e.g. shaping demand and supply of food) have become more relevant factors in any analysis on the drivers of acute food insecurity, acute malnutrition, and famine. This coincides with a shift in the literature away from global drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition toward localised dynamics on the national and sub-national level. The analytical framework of Howe (2018) that captures this complexity distinguishes pressure, hold, and self-reinforcing dynamics as key dimensions that explain potential pathways for famine. These could be political-induced, natural-induced, economical-induced, or socially induced, but most often a combination. Based on this framework and supported by the evidence from the literature, this rapid review assesses conflicts and protracted crises; climate change and pressure on natural resources; social inequalities; and economic shocks and food prices, as the key drivers of acute food insecurity and famine. Importantly, from the literature it seems clear that acute food insecurity is the result of changing vulnerabilities that link with different coping mechanisms of households and communities.

A vulnerability index for climate related risks in Sweden

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Haas ◽  
Konstantinos Karagiorgos ◽  
Lars Nyberg ◽  
Andreas Pettersson
Keyword(s):  
Social Vulnerability ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
National Level ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Vulnerability Index ◽  
Socioeconomic Vulnerability ◽  
Climate Risks ◽  
Spatial Level ◽  
Socio Economic Variables ◽  
The Impact

<p>Social vulnerability is mostly described as specific social inequalities in the context of a disaster. Following this understanding, empirical research focuses on the unequal exposure of different groups to disasters and/or on the unequal capacities of groups to anticipate, cope and recover from the impact of a hazard. Although social vulnerability has recently gained attention in academia, Sweden lacks frameworks and indicators to assess it at a national level.</p><p>Following the large amount of publicly available data in Sweden, to address this gap, we present a method for quantifying social vulnerability to climate risks in Swedish municipalities. A large number of variables were collected and analyzed to create quantitative indicators that purport to measure a municipality’s vulnerability. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the information in the variables was reduced to a smaller number of components and socioeconomic vulnerability scores for each Swedish municipality. The factor analysis resulted in five components explaining more than 75% of the total variance. The resulting components and the final index are mapped for each municipality.</p><p>The results show that socio-economic vulnerability is not evenly distributed across Sweden. Apart from those findings the fact that some municipal clusters are much more vulnerable than others, the developed method is a useful tool for comparing socio-economic conditions among municipalities and for identifying susceptible municipalities which are likely to face significant challenges in coping with future natural hazard events.</p><p>Preliminary results show similar trends of social vulnerability to natural hazards at a highly resolved spatial level of aggregation as comparted to municipal levels. As studies on social vulnerability are often data-driven and thus performed on larger administrative aggregations, the sub-set of socio-economic variables from Statistics Sweden used in this study was found useful in our approach. In order to explore social vulnerability in conjunction with coastal and fluvial flood scenarios, an interactive web map was created with ArcGIS Dashboards.</p>

scholarly journals Hunger in the midst of plenty: A survey of household food security among urban families in Lagos State, Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alero Ann Roberts ◽  
James Olufemi Osadare ◽  
Victor Akpan Inem
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
National Level ◽  
Household Food Security ◽  
Household Food Insecurity ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Household Food ◽  
Lagos State

Research has documented that food security at national level does not translate to food security at household level. The study assessed the level of food security among urban households in Shomolu LGA, Lagos State. Using the 9-item Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) information was collected from 306 heads of households on adequacy of food availability and consumption. Data were analyzed using Epi info and presented as frequencies and percentages. Associations between variables were tested using Chisquare at a significance level of 0.05. Households were classified as food secure, food insecure without hunger and food insecure with hunger. Only 33.8% of households were food secure, 45.1% were food insecure without hunger and 21.1% were food insecure with hunger. Food secure households were statistically significantly associated with households where heads had secondary or higher education, women were married, spending <40% of household monthly income on food and living in their own homes (P=0.001). Household food insecurity is found in urban communities and is positively associated with indicators of poverty.

Evaluating the Impact of Trade Liberalization on Women With Special Reference to the Kingdom of Bahrain

2018 ◽  
pp. 152-177
Author(s):  
Amal Nagah Elbeshbishi ◽  
Ebtihaj A. Al A'ali
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
National Level ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Multilateral Trading System ◽  
Disaggregated Data ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

The institutional framework of the multilateral trading system (MTS) assumes that trade policies and agreements are gender neutral. There is very little known on the impact of trade liberalization on women, partly because of lack of gender-disaggregated data in trade statistics and partly because of lack of gender awareness in economic analysis. This chapter discusses the issue of trade liberalization and gender gap in general, then the issue of trade liberalization and women employment specifically, to evaluate the impact of trade liberalization on women with special reference to the Kingdom of Bahrain. Finally, the chapter concludes and discusses the policy recommendations as to whether national-level policy recommendations or international ones are necessary to move towards a gender-balanced trading system.

scholarly journals Household Vulnerability to Food Insecurity and the Regional Food Insecurity Gap in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9022
Author(s):  
Lilian Korir ◽  
Marian Rizov ◽  
Eric Ruto ◽  
Patrick Paul Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
Regional Food ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Household Vulnerability ◽  
Access To Food

Food insecurity remains a vital concern in Kenya. Vulnerable members of the population, such as children, the elderly, marginalised ethnic minorities, and low-income households, are disproportionately affected by food insecurity. Following the pioneering work of Sen, which examined exposure to food insecurity at a household level using his “entitlement approach”, this paper estimates households’ vulnerability to food insecurity. In turn, the outcome variable is decomposed in order to explain the food insecurity gap between households classified as “marginalised” and “non-marginalised”. We applied the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method to examine vulnerability to food insecurity and, in particular, contributions of observed differences in socio-demographic characteristics (endowments) or differences in the returns to these characteristics, which, in our context, is associated with poor public services and infrastructure in the vicinity of the household. The results indicated that differences in vulnerability to food insecurity were mainly attributable to observed differences in socio-demographic characteristics such as education, age, and household income. Therefore, policies seeking to attain equity by investment into targeted household characteristics in terms of access to food and other productive resources could effectively combat food insecurity. For example, policymakers could develop programs for household inclusiveness using education and social protection programs, including insurance schemes against risk of endowment loss.

scholarly journals The Impact of Self Help Group Approach in the Lives of Beneficiaries at Household Level: The Case of Children’s Home Society and Family Services, Hosanna Family Empowerment Program

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-33
Author(s):  
Fekadu Negusie
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
National Level ◽  
Family Services ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Family Empowerment ◽  
Self Help ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Self Help Group ◽  
Empowerment Program

The study was conducted to find out the impacts of Self Help Groups (SHGs) Approach in the lives of beneficiaries at household level: in case of Hosanna Family Empowerment Program which is part of the development projects of Children’s Home Societies and Family Services (CHSFS). Children’s Home Society and Family Services (CHSFS) is one of the international not-for profit organizations in Ethiopia which are promoting SHG approach as a model for transformational development. Self-Help Group is an informal association of people in a village, hamlet or urban neighborhood with the principal objective of empowering destitute women economically, socially, politically, institutionally and spiritually. The researcher focused on analyzing the significant impacts of SHGs compared to other developmental endeavors undertaken by the organization under the study with the following specific objectives in mind: To investigate if the economic aspects of the beneficiaries at household level demonstrated improvement. To assess if SHG approach has brought the desired results on the lives of the beneficiaries in the social, political and leadership aspects of their lives. To recommend if SHG could be adopted as a development model for mitigating poverty at the national level. The researcher used questionnaire for educated respondents and scheduled interview for illiterate respondents. In order to enhance the validity of the research, both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied in the research. The analysis of the findings of the research reveals that involvement in SHGs has significant economic and social contributions on the lives of poor women.

PANDEMIC-INDUCED LOCKDOWN'S SHOCK TO HOUSEHOLD LEVEL FOOD SECURITY

Ensemble ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol SP-1 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-128
Author(s):  
Tanmoy Kumar Pal ◽  
◽  
Subhrangsu Santra ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Public Distribution System ◽  
Scale Scores ◽  
Vegetables And Fruits ◽  
Gap Data ◽  
Food Insecurity Access ◽  
The Impact

The impact of the lockdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic was devastating for the farm as well as the non-farm sectors of the Indian economy. Even though many authors expressed the apprehensions of hunger, and journalistic accounts of hunger appeared in newspapers, very few studies were undertaken to investigate the nature and extent of lockdown-induced food insecurity experienced by the households and understand the household management strategies adopted by those households. This study was undertaken in a village located in the Birbhum district of West Bengal during the unlock-I phase to fill the above-stated gap. Data for this study were collected from 40 households using a standardized tool known as the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), and a semi-structured questionnaire. Results showed that inaccessibility of food was experienced by the households in three domains- anxiety and uncertainty (82.5% households), unsatisfactory quality (100% households), and insufficient quantity (77.5% households). However, quantitative scale scores of food insecurity showed that none of the households experienced the highest possible degree of food insecurity. The public distribution system and mid-day-meal programs were most effective in reducing the food insecurity of many families, but the level of support extended was not enough. More than half of the households reported a reduction in animal protein consumption, higher expenditure on vegetables and fruits, and an increase in taking loans. Based on the findings of the study, two specific suggestions were provided for facilitating the management of disruptions caused by lockdown-like emergency conditions.

scholarly journals ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY AT HOUSEHOLD LEVEL IN GARBA TULLA SUBCOUNTY

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Armara Macimiliam Galwab ◽  
Prof. Ininda Joseph M.
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Food And Nutrition Security ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
The Impact

Purpose: To assess the Impact of climate change on food and nutrition security at household level in Garbatulla sub-county. Methodology:The study was designed as a cross sectional survey. Findings: The analysis of rainfall and temperatures over the region of study indicates that there has been decreasing trend of yearly rainfall and increasing temperatures. Result also revealed that the area is highly dependent on food aid which is an indication of food insecurity in Garbatulla. The analysis of nutritional status in the region remains between poor and serious, requiring adequate attention which is an indication of deterioration in nutrition. The study also found out that the respondents were using arrange of coping mechanism which are at border on survival rather than adequacy. Further, the study findings indicated a number of barriers hindering the community from consuming more nutritious foods such as fish, eggs and tubers. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The widespread occurrence of food insecurity, the severity of the consequences and insufficient progress in reducing the numbers of the food insecure all point to the need for further urgent action. The findings of this study will come in handy by showing the extent to which climate change affects food security and nutrition. Hence, decision-makers at all levels, such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and NGOs, will use the study findings design effective policies and programs. The findings will also contribute to the body of knowledge in the academia and may provide insights on food security gaps for further academic research  

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