A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COPING STRATEGIES USED BY FOOD SECURE AND FOOD INSECURE HOUSEHOLDS

Yıl 2017, Cilt: 9 Sayı: 2, 193 - 208, 01.06.2017

Wynand CJ Grobler Steve Dunga

Öz

Food security has become a priority in many developing countries and is
considered a fundamental human right. Food security can be defined as “when all
people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe
and nutritious food which meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an
active and healthy life”. The recent focus on food insecurity shifted to access,
vulnerability and sustainability of food in an urban context. In this context, the use
of coping strategies to overcome food insecurity can be seen as a measure of food
insecurity and the associated vulnerability towards food insecurity. The question
that arises is: To what extent does the coping strategies used by food secure
households differ from the coping strategies used by food insecure households? A
quantitative research method was employed whereby a stratified random sample
of 600 households was taken from two low-income areas in South Africa. The
Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) was used to determine the food
security status of households and the Coping Strategies Index (CSI) was used to
determine the coping strategies used by the food secure and food insecure
households. Different statistical techniques were used to compare the food secure
and food insecure households with regard to coping strategies used. The study
found that the use of coping strategies increases as households move from food
secure to severely food insecure. The study indicated that there should be policies
that deal with the vulnerability of certain groups.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Coping Strategies, Food Insecurity, Development Economics, Vulnerability, Poverty