Food availability and livelihood strategies among rural households across Uganda

Despite continuing economic growth, Uganda faces persistent challenges to achieve food security. The effectiveness of policy and development strategies to help rural households achieve food security must improve. We present a novel approach to relate spatial patterns of food security to livelihood s...

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Autores principales: Wichern, Jannike, Wijk, Mark T. van, Descheemaeker, Katrien K., Frelat, Romain, Asten, Piet J.A. van, Giller, Kenneth E.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/90512
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author Wichern, Jannike
Wijk, Mark T. van
Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
Frelat, Romain
Asten, Piet J.A. van
Giller, Kenneth E.
author_browse Asten, Piet J.A. van
Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
Frelat, Romain
Giller, Kenneth E.
Wichern, Jannike
Wijk, Mark T. van
author_facet Wichern, Jannike
Wijk, Mark T. van
Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
Frelat, Romain
Asten, Piet J.A. van
Giller, Kenneth E.
author_sort Wichern, Jannike
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Despite continuing economic growth, Uganda faces persistent challenges to achieve food security. The effectiveness of policy and development strategies to help rural households achieve food security must improve. We present a novel approach to relate spatial patterns of food security to livelihood strategies, including the contribution of on- and off-farm activities to household food availability. Data from 1927 households from the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study were used to estimate the calorific contribution of livelihood activities to food availability. Consumption of crops produced on-farm contributed most to food availability for households with limited food availability, yet the majority of these households were not food self-sufficient. Off-farm and market-oriented on-farm activities were more important for households with greater food availability. Overall, off-farm income was important in the north, while market-oriented on-farm activities were important in western and central Uganda. Food availability patterns largely matched patterns of agroecological conditions and market access, with households doing worst in Uganda's drier and remote northeast. Less food-secure households depended more on short-cycle food crops as compared with better-off households, who focused more on plantation (cash) crops, although this varied among regions. Targeting interventions to improve food security should consider such differences in enterprise choice and include options to improve household market access and off-farm income opportunities.
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spelling CGSpace905122024-10-03T07:40:51Z Food availability and livelihood strategies among rural households across Uganda Wichern, Jannike Wijk, Mark T. van Descheemaeker, Katrien K. Frelat, Romain Asten, Piet J.A. van Giller, Kenneth E. food security livelihoods Despite continuing economic growth, Uganda faces persistent challenges to achieve food security. The effectiveness of policy and development strategies to help rural households achieve food security must improve. We present a novel approach to relate spatial patterns of food security to livelihood strategies, including the contribution of on- and off-farm activities to household food availability. Data from 1927 households from the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study were used to estimate the calorific contribution of livelihood activities to food availability. Consumption of crops produced on-farm contributed most to food availability for households with limited food availability, yet the majority of these households were not food self-sufficient. Off-farm and market-oriented on-farm activities were more important for households with greater food availability. Overall, off-farm income was important in the north, while market-oriented on-farm activities were important in western and central Uganda. Food availability patterns largely matched patterns of agroecological conditions and market access, with households doing worst in Uganda's drier and remote northeast. Less food-secure households depended more on short-cycle food crops as compared with better-off households, who focused more on plantation (cash) crops, although this varied among regions. Targeting interventions to improve food security should consider such differences in enterprise choice and include options to improve household market access and off-farm income opportunities. 2017-12 2018-01-17T15:18:33Z 2018-01-17T15:18:33Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/90512 en Open Access Springer Wichern, J., Wijk, M.T. van, Descheemaeker, K., Frelat, R., Asten, P.J.A. van and Giller, K.E. 2017. Food availability and livelihood strategies among rural households across Uganda. Food Security 9(6): 1385–1403
spellingShingle food security
livelihoods
Wichern, Jannike
Wijk, Mark T. van
Descheemaeker, Katrien K.
Frelat, Romain
Asten, Piet J.A. van
Giller, Kenneth E.
Food availability and livelihood strategies among rural households across Uganda
title Food availability and livelihood strategies among rural households across Uganda
title_full Food availability and livelihood strategies among rural households across Uganda
title_fullStr Food availability and livelihood strategies among rural households across Uganda
title_full_unstemmed Food availability and livelihood strategies among rural households across Uganda
title_short Food availability and livelihood strategies among rural households across Uganda
title_sort food availability and livelihood strategies among rural households across uganda
topic food security
livelihoods
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/90512
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