Household Coping Strategies for Food Insecurity: An Overview of Reviews

Background: Comprehensive understanding of the strategies used by households to confront food insecurity can assist governments and relevant organizations in formulating policies that are more effective. This overview of reviews aims to examine the strategies utilized by households to confront food insecurity throughout the world, regardless of its underlying causes. Methods: The authors searched in PubMed/Medline, ISI Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar by appropriate keywords to identify relevant publications up to March 2024. Reviews were eligible for inclusion in the current study if they mentioned coping strategies in response to food insecurity and their full text was in English. The quality of included reviews was examined by the SANRA, JBI, and PRISMA-ScR. Results: A total of 58 review studies reporting coping strategies in response to food insecurity were included. Two major groups of household coping strategies for food insecurity were highlighted: 1) Food-based coping strategies including reducing amount/ portion size of food intake, skipping meals, eating cheap foods, using less preferred food, borrowing/ requesting food options, food sharing, minimizing food waste, assistance programs; and 2) Non-food-based coping strategies which are social protection, financial and asset-based approaches, diversification of livelihood or income sources, agricultural/livestock management approaches, informal and illegal economic approaches, and human capital related strategies. Conclusion: Examining the coping strategies used by households experiencing food insecurity can offer policymakers and planners valuable insights to mitigate food insecurity and its consequences globally and regionally.