Food Security Challenges in Rural Pakistan: Analyzing the Socio-Economic and Farming Dynamics

Despite being an agrarian economy, food insecurity is a major challenge in Pakistan. This highlights the need for deeper insight for ensuring food availability and affordability for all. The study aimed to explore the root causes of household food insecurity in Punjab province. Primary data on structured questionnaire was collected from 237 farming households based on multi-stage cluster sampling technique. The analysis of the data revealed that fewer than two-thirds of households had reliable access to food in Punjab. The logistic binary regression provided insights about determinants of food security at household level. The larger families, typically those with four or more members, were found to be relatively more food secure. The older household heads and those with limited education were observed to be vulnerable to food insecurity. The availability of agricultural resources, such as tractor ownership and land title, indicated better chances of being food secure. However, the livestock and irrigated land was found to have poor odds of food security. This could be due to challenges associated with effective management of these assets. It was concluded that education, particularly up to primary level, may be imparted to the rural households for increasing food security in the short-run, targeted support for larger families was required to maximise their labor potential, and small-scale farmers needed to be provided better access to farm machinery and land title or land tenure security.