Food Security Dynamics and its Drivers in Rural Mozambique

Author(s): Raul Pitoro, Takemore Chagomoka

This paper uses regionally representative panel household survey data of 1,186 households in the high agriculture potential zone located in the Central and Northern regions to assess household food security trends and its drivers, specifically to determine the extent landholdings have influenced food security dynamics in rural Northern-Central Mozambique. The main finding of this study is that although food security level has been stable over the study period, the agricultural production, rural non-farm activities, establishment of food reserves, food availability, assets, and access to non-farm income opportunities and transportation have influenced food security level of the rural families. This suggests that investing in infrastructures such as public transportation and roads, minimizing agricultural production risks, promoting in education and livestock production aremore likely to have a larger effect on the extremely poor households than on the less poor when wage employment opportunities and proper training are available.

Food Security, Landholdings, Mozambique, Panel Data, Rural, Dynamics

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