Spatial analysis of food security in Iran: associated factors and governmental support policies

Media literacy and its role in promoting sustainable food consumption practices

Household food consumption is a major driver of environmental impacts globally. Promoting sustainable consumption practices is crucial for addressing the challenges of resource depletion, food waste, and climate change. This study investigates the role of media literacy in fostering sustainable consumption awareness and behavior. A total of 432 Iranian consumers participated in the study by completing an online structured questionnaire. The data was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), revealing that the different aspects of media literacy, including usage, accessibility, content generation, and critical understanding, accounted for 93% of the variance in sustainable consumption awareness. Additionally, these factors explained 51% of the variance in sustainable consumption intention. The combined influences of sustainable consumption awareness and intention accounted for 87% of the variance in sustainable consumption behavior. To promote sustainable consumption, it is recommended to establish dedicated networks and channels that focus on delivering sustainable and healthy consumption content. Furthermore, organizing programs featuring environmental experts and interactive platforms, such as question-and-answer panels, can enhance critical understanding among media-literate audiences and contribute to the adoption of more sustainable consumption practices.

Geographical patterns of implementing a government subsidy program: implications for health outcomes and nutrient intake in Iran

Introduction

The lack of access to a diverse and nutritious diet has significant health consequences worldwide. Governments have employed various policy mechanisms to ensure access, but their success varies.

Method

In this study, the impact of changes in food assistance policy on food prices and nutrient security in different provinces of Iran, a sanctioned country, was investigated using statistical and econometric models.

Results

Both the old and new policies were broad in scope, providing subsidized food or cash payments to the entire population. However, the implementation of these policies led to an increase in the market price of food items, resulting in a decline in the intake of essential nutrients. Particularly, the policy that shifted food assistance from commodity subsidies to direct cash payments reduced the price sensitivity of consumers. Consequently, the intake of key nutrients such as Vitamin C and Vitamin A, which are often constrained by their high prices, decreased. To improve the diets of marginalized populations, it is more effective to target subsidies towards specific nutrient groups and disadvantaged populations, with a particular focus on food groups that provide essential nutrients like Vitamin A and Vitamin C in rural areas of Iran.

Discussion

More targeted food assistance policies, tailored to the specific context of each province and income level, are more likely to yield positive nutritional outcomes with minimal impact on food prices.

The spatial effects of the household's food insecurity levels in Ethiopia: by ordinal geo-additive model

Background

Food insecurity and vulnerability in Ethiopia are historical problems due to natural- and human-made disasters, which affect a wide range of areas at a higher magnitude with adverse effects on the overall health of households. In Ethiopia, the problem is wider with higher magnitude. Moreover, this geographical distribution of this challenge remains unexplored regarding the effects of cultures and shocks, despite previous case studies suggesting the effects of shocks and other factors. Hence, this study aims to assess the geographic distribution of corrected-food insecurity levels (FCSL) across zones and explore the comprehensive effects of diverse factors on each level of a household's food insecurity.

Method

This study analyzes three-term household-based panel data for years 2012, 2014, and 2016 with a total sample size of 11505 covering the all regional states of the country. An extended additive model, with empirical Bayes estimation by modeling both structured spatial effects using Markov random field or tensor product and unstructured effects using Gaussian, was adopted to assess the spatial distribution of FCSL across zones and to further explore the comprehensive effect of geographic, environmental, and socioeconomic factors on the locally adjusted measure.

Result

Despite a chronological decline, a substantial portion of Ethiopian households remains food insecure (25%) and vulnerable (27.08%). The Markov random field (MRF) model is the best fit based on GVC, revealing that 90.04% of the total variation is explained by the spatial effects. Most of the northern and south-western areas and south-east and north-west areas are hot spot zones of food insecurity and vulnerability in the country. Moreover, factors such as education, urbanization, having a job, fertilizer usage in cropping, sanitation, and farming livestock and crops have a significant influence on reducing a household's probability of being at higher food insecurity levels (insecurity and vulnerability), whereas shocks occurrence and small land size ownership have worsened it.

Conclusion

Chronically food insecure zones showed a strong cluster in the northern and south-western areas of the country, even though higher levels of household food insecurity in Ethiopia have shown a declining trend over the years. Therefore, in these areas, interventions addressing spatial structure factors, particularly urbanization, education, early marriage control, and job creation, along with controlling conflict and drought effect by food aid and selected coping strategies, and performing integrated farming by conserving land and the environment of zones can help to reduce a household's probability of being at higher food insecurity levels.

Factors associated with Afghan household food security pre- and post-Taliban regime

To determine multifaceted determinants of household vulnerability to food insecurity in Afghanistan before and after the Taliban takeover, we randomly selected 555 households from 13 provinces, conducted in-person surveys, and applied the Household Food Insecurity Assess Scale (HFIAS) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). We collected data from January to April 2022. We observed an increase in both prevalence and severity of food insecurity among Afghan households after the Taliban takeover. Approximately, 98% and 70% of interviewed households were food insecure after and before the Taliban takeover, respectively. Similarly, households were more likely to be severely food insecure (81%) than before (40%). Our results showed that policy and political conditions contributed substantially to the food insecurity of Afghan households after the Taliban takeover. We recommend that the Taliban forces facilitate the presence of humanitarian organizations and NGOs to improve low-income households' food security, especially for women and children. We also recommend that international organizations enhance their attempts to negotiate with the Taliban to ensure freedom for women.

Assessing the association of sustainable agriculture with rural household food security (considering ecological, economic, and social aspects)

Due to the importance of sustainability in the world, we follow the missing pieces of the puzzle of sustainable agriculture and food security as a huge gap in the literature. To achieve this goal, a survey was analyzed to assess the linkage between these two concepts in the rural areas in Lorestan province in Iran. The status of food security was assessed using US Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM). A standard questionnaire extracted from the related literature was applied to calculate sustainability indicators. The results showed that the status of food security among households with no children (70%) was better than those with one or more children (28%). According to the Tobit model, none of the sustainability dimensions had a significant association with food insecurity. The results support the fact that the assessment of agricultural sustainability at the microeconomic level, short-term period, and a small, specified location cannot lead to reliable results due to the similar behaviors of farmers in these areas. The low level of agricultural sustainability is due to the lack of macroeconomic policies in the region to promote and disseminate the principles of sustainability, lack of plans and actions to promote sustainability by stakeholders and policymakers, ignorance of the target community, as subsistence producers who fall into a deprivation trap. The results suggest that policymakers should use two short-term and long-term strategies to improve the level of agricultural sustainability and increase food security status.

Simulating Potential Associated Socio-Economic Determinants With Sustainable Food Security (A Macro-Micro Spatial Quantitative Model)

Improving sustainable food security status, nowadays, is an important challenge globally, especially in developing countries. The policy goal should be equity—everyone has the same opportunity to be food secure—rather than equality—everyone gets the same subsidy. Since the culture and socioeconomic status within a country vary from region to region, collapsing all areas into a unique region may introduce errors and inaccurate results, as most studies carried out. This study assesses the geographical pattern of association between food security and socioeconomic factors in urban areas in Iran using a nationally and regionally representative household consumption-expenditure survey from 2010 to 2018. The logistic regression model and big data are used to achieve this goal. The results show that a substantial number of households face food insecurity in urban areas in Iran. Also, different geographic regions have various salient factors that affect food insecurity. Aggregation tests confirmed that researchers should estimate separate models for different provinces, states, and districts to assess and monitor the food security status of a country instead of estimating a unique model for the whole of the country. Geographical disparities should be considered as an important issue before suggesting any catch-all policies for a country. The geo-locational factor of households is a key determinant of the association between socioeconomic factors and food security in urban areas in Iran. In sum, the practical suggestions for improving Iranian households' food security in urban areas are as follows: (1) Developing job opportunities for the head of household. (2) Enhancing the potential for self-employment. (3) Facilitating the study of children within households including providing inexpensive uniforms, books, and materials, especially for poor households. (4) Supporting young couples in terms of accessing to financial resources and providing inexpensive essential equipment of home for them; and (5) Introduction of the importance of dietary diversity and different foods which can be cooked by using these food ingredients within a household. Comparative case studies using similar methodologies can test if our results are generalizable.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Security and Food Diversity of Iranian Rural Households

With the onset of the coronavirus crisis, disruption of the domestic food supply chain, loss of revenue, and payments that affect food production have led to severe tensions and food security risks in many developing countries. The rural communities are more at risk of food insecurity due to less access to healthcare and social inequality. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security and food diversity of rural households. The sample included 375 household heads living in the rural areas of Khorramabad county, which was determined using a three-stage cluster sampling method. Data were collected using standard Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) questionnaires. The results showed that the food security situation of rural households has deteriorated, and consumption of some food groups changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the multinomial regression model showed that gender, level of education, monthly income, number of employed members, nutrition knowledge, employment status, livestock ownership, and access to credit were significantly associated with the food security of households during the COVID-19 pandemic. The household head's gender, level of education, monthly income, nutrition knowledge, employment status, livestock ownership, and access to credit were significantly associated with dietary diversity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the findings, providing emergency food assistance and cash payments to food-insecure households can reduce the risk of food insecurity in rural households. It is suggested that government policies focus on identifying vulnerable households in rural areas, especially female-headed households, low-income households, and households without a wage income.

The assessment of an extended set of socio-economic determinants to explain anxiety and uncertainty, insufficient quality and food intake of Afghan refugees

OBJECTIVES

In this study, socio-economic factors associated with Afghan refugee households' food insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty, insufficient quality and food intake were determined.

DESIGN

Household Food Insecurity Assess Scale measurement was applied to assess food insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty, insufficient quality and insufficient food intake. Descriptive analysis and multivariable regression models were used to determine the associated factors.

SETTING

The study was carried out in urban areas of Tehran province in Iran.

PARTICIPANTS

To collect data, interviews were conducted among 317 Afghan households. The questionnaire was administered via face-to-face interviews to either the breadwinner of the selected households or a member who could respond on behalf of the household.

RESULTS

About 11·3 % of Afghan households who resettled in Tehran province were food secure, while 11·7 % were marginally, 40·7 % moderately and 36·3 % severely food insecure. Economic and financial factors were inversely and significantly associated with food insecurity. Employment, income, distance from the central market and personal saving were inversely associated with food insecurity, while other determinants, including the length of living time in Tehran, house type and the number of male and female children, had a direct association with food insecurity.

CONCLUSIONS

The associations of socio-economic factors with three categories of food insecurity differed. Elimination of occupation bans that the Iranian government imposes on refugees provides simple access to financial supports like long-term loans, and opening a bank account for refugees will benefit both Iranians and refugees.

Impact of household economic strengthening intervention on food security among caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children in Tanzania

About 2 billion people worldwide suffer moderate or severe forms of food insecurity, calling for correctional measures involving economic strengthening interventions. This study assessed the impact of household economic strengthening (HES) intervention on food security among caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Tanzania. The study was longitudinal in design, based on OVC caregivers’ baseline (2017–2018) and midline (2019) data from the USAID Kizazi Kipya project. Food security, the outcome, was measured using the Household Hunger Scale (HHS) in three categories: little to no hunger (food secure), moderate hunger, and severe hunger. Membership in the USAID Kizazi Kipya-supported economic strengthening intervention (i.e. WORTH Yetu) was the main independent variable. Data analysis involved generalized estimating equation (GEE) for multivariate analysis. With mean age of 50.3 years at baseline, the study analyzed 132,583 caregivers, 72.2% of whom were female. At midline, 7.6% of all caregivers enrolled at baseline were members in WORTH Yetu. Membership in WORTH Yetu was significantly effective in reducing household hunger among the caregivers: severe hunger dropped from 9.4% at baseline to 4.1% at midline; moderate hunger dropped from 65.9% at baseline to 62.8% at midline; and food security (i.e., little to no hunger households) increased from 25.2% at baseline to 33.1% at midline. In the multivariate analysis, membership in WORTH Yetu reduced the likelihood of severe hunger by 47% (OR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.48–0.59), and moderate hunger by 21% (OR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.76–0.83), but increased the likelihood of food security by 45% (OR = 1.45, 95% CI 1.39–1.51). The USAID Kizazi Kipya’s model of household economic strengthening for OVC caregivers was effective in improving food security and reducing household hunger in Tanzania. This underscores the need to expand WORTH Yetu coverage. Meanwhile, these results indicate a potential of applying the intervention in similar settings to address household hunger.

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Security and Agriculture in Iran: A Survey

The consequences of COVID-19 on the economy and agriculture have raised many concerns about global food security, especially in developing countries. Given that food security is a critical component that is affected by global crises, beside the limited studies carried out on the macro-impacts of COVID-19 on food security in Iran, this paper is an attempt to address the dynamic impacts of COVID-19 on food security along with economic and environmental challenges in Iran. For this purpose, a survey was conducted with the hypothesis that COVID-19 has not affected food security in Iran. To address this fundamental hypothesis, we applied the systematic review method to obtain the evidence. Various evidences, including indices and statistics, were collected from national databases, scientific reports, field observations, and interviews. Preliminary results revealed that COVID-19 exerts its effects on the economy, agriculture, and food security of Iran through six major mechanisms, corresponding to a 30% decrease in the purchasing power parity in 2020 beside a significant increase in food prices compared to 2019. On the other hand, the expanding environmental constraints in Iran reduce the capacity of the agricultural sector to play a crucial role in the economy and ensure food security, and in this regard, COVID-19 forces the national programs and budget to combat rising ecological limitations. Accordingly, our study rejects the hypothesis that COVID-19 has not affected food security in Iran.

The role of educational channels in the motivating of rural women to improve household food security

The main purpose of the present study was to explore the role of educational channels in motivating rural women to participate in improving household food security. The statistical population was composed of all married women in the Sirvan County (Ilam Province). Using Cochran's sampling formula, 368 women were sampled. The main instrument was a questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by a panel of food security experts and members of faculty agricultural sciences and natural resources university of Khuzestan and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and composite reliability. The alpha values varied from 0.79 to 0.85 for the educational channels and participation sections, respectively. Data were analyzed by the SPSS₁₈ and Lisrel_8.54 software packages. Results showed that rural women were not in the promotion of food security are participating high and nearly 80% of the studied rural household are exposed to food insecurity. The main channels used by rural women for the improvement of food security include family, TV, and neighbors. The results of the correlation analysis revealed that educational channels (local, national, and international) were significantly (P < .01) correlated with rural women's participation in promoting household food security. Also, based on the results of means comparison, women's participation in food security improvement is significantly related with the variables of participating in extension courses, getting nutrition information, production systems, family size, distance between residency location and the city, educational level, and job of the person who is in responsibility of food provision. In addition, the results of the structural equation modeling showed that education channels had a positive and significant effect on the participation in improving household food security (R2 = 0.49, γ = 0.70, t = 8.60). The present research provides a scientifically rational justification as to how to improve food security among rural communities. The results can essentially help policymakers alleviate food insecurity and undernourishment.

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Studying the extent of the use of educational channels by rural women and their participation in food security improvement.

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Studying the status of food security in rural communities.

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Studying the relationship between the dimensions of educational channels associated with women's participation.

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Studying the effect of each dimension on educational channels in women's participation.