The socio-economic factors influencing variations in household food security in Bahi district: the case of Ibugule and Kigwe villages

This study examined socio-economic factors influencing variations in household food security in Bahi District, Dodoma region. The essence is that the district was reported to experience severe food shortages (famine) after every four years and transitory food shortages almost every year. The methods employed in data collection include person interviews, focus Group Discussion, documentary review and field observation. Reference Adult Equivalent was employed to see whether the household was food secure or insecure. The relationship on variables was tested using Chi- square method. The majorities (68.5%) of the surveyed sample were food insecure and only 31.5% were food secure. A total of 130 heads of households from Ibugule and Kigwe villages, Executive Officers, Agricultural extension officers and few selected key informants constituted the sample for the study. The main socio-economic factors identified as influencing variations on household food status were demographic variables( sex, age, marital status of heads of households, household size, availability of labour and other inputs, occupation of heads of households (associated with levels of education and poverty), property ownership, varied uses of household grain and food insecurity coping strategies. Poor rural infrastructure, inadequate support from the government and other institutions to support agricultural production were identified as further contributing to the problems. It was therefore concluded that variations on household food status in Bahi district is aggravated by socio-economic characteristics. It is recommended that in addition to providing food aid at times of dire food shortages other measures ought to be effected in order to alleviate the problem. These may include provision of credit and inputs, development of irrigation and transport infrastructures, education to farmers especially on agricultural production and involvement of people in non-farm activities.