Impact of financial inclusion on food security: evidence from developing countries

Purpose - The paper empirically investigates the impact of financial inclusion on food security. Subsequently, it examines the overall effect of various dimensions of financial inclusion on food security of developing countries using the panel data for the time period of 2004–2019. Design/methodology/approach - To overcome the problem of endogeneity, the study has used a fixed-effect model, two-stage least-square and system generalized method of moments estimation techniques. Secondary data was collected from various websites such as WDI, FAO, UNICEF and UNESCO. Findings - It was found in the study that there is a significant effect of financial inclusion on food security. The evidence shows that if there is more financial inclusion in the country, it will help poor people to cope with difficult situations they face and provide them food security. Financial development, per capita income, agriculture growth and education positively affect food security, while militarization and urbanization have a negative impact on food security. The crux of the analysis is that any country's financial sector is an integral part of any country that supports food security. Originality/value - The literature does not clearly show the impact of financial inclusion dimensions on developing countries' food security. Therefore, there is a need to use all the dimensions of financial inclusion to check the overall impact on food security. For this purpose, the financial inclusion index is developed. A new dimension of non-life insurance is introduced that has not been used previously by any researcher to check financial inclusion impact.