Effect of women empowerment on sustainable household food security: a case of Monduli district in Tanzania

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Date

2022

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Volume Title

Publisher

Sokoine University of Agriculture

Abstract

Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for active and healthy life. Food insecurity continues to be a significant problem for public health nutrition in developing and developed countries, and women are the most affected. Similarly, women's empowerment has been used as a strategy to improve household food security and nutrition. Women invest in household food needs, increase household consumption, and improve children's nutritional status compared to men. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of women empowerment on sustainable household food security in Monduli District in Tanzania. A cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2021 and April 2021. A total of 245 households and 491 women between 15 and 49 years of age fully participated in household survey using questionnaire about household food security and women empowerment. Data were analyzed using SPSS for windows (Version 21.0. SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and Minimum Dietary Diversity-Women(MDD-W) revealed that most households were food insecure (73%) and did not reach minimum dietary diversity (95.7%). Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) only categorized (16.9%) as empowered women. The low status of women’s empowerment was expressed by their non-involvement in household decision matters, less control over resources, and a low level of education. The positive effect of women empowerment on sustainable household food security in Monduli District (OR=3.15; 95% CI: 1.93-5.13, p<0.05) was determined by using multivariate logistic regression and backward Wald methods. Government policies reienforcement on social mechanisms that allows higher percentage of women to be enrolled in education, gender equality promotion, land ownership, decision- making ,involvement in leadership and programs that access women's participation in off- farm income-generating activities will reduce and prevent household food insecurity in Monduli.

Description

Dissertation

Keywords

Women empowerment, Sustainable household, Food security, Tanzania, Monduli district

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