A study on Food Security of Rural Households in Iran and Its Effective Socioeconomic Factors

Background and Objectives: Population growth and increased food requirements of humans have increased demands for agricultural foods. Indeed, food security is the foundation of a developed society and constitutes the major component of health, efficiency and learning. Based on the role of food security in human health and development, objective of the present study was to investigate statuses of food security in rural households of Iran and socioeconomic factors affecting these statutes. Materials and Methods: Food security statuses of 19267 rural households were first assessed using income-expense questionnaires, 2018, and method of determining optimal food basket for the Iranian society based on the energy recommended by the Community Nutrition Department, Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. Factors affecting food security were assessed using logit model. Results: Results of the food security index showed that rural households of Iran were generally at intermediate levels since the food security index values were higher than those of average in 53.12% of the rural households and lower than those of average in 46.88% of them. It was shown by the logit model that farm income, non-farm income, age, gender, educational level, employment status and house ownership status of household heads included significant positive effects on food security of the households. Moreover, family size and marital status of the household heads included negative effects on food security. Conclusions: Although food security status of the Iranian rural families is relatively moderate, increasing nutritional knowledge and providing employment opportunities to increase incomes and purchase powers of optimal food baskets can be effective in improving food security.