Socio-Economic Characteristics of Farming Community and Food Security Situation in Punjab, Pakistan

Despite the availability of ample food and reasonably low food prices, food insecurity prevailed in many developing countries in 1970s. The paradigm shift in 1980s from supply to demand side of food security underlined the entitlement or access to food as the center of mainstream research. Current study is the findings of the data collected from household level survey regarding socio-economic and food insecurity conditions in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The descriptive analysis and cross tabulation of the household data revealed that household assets, house building material, size of agricultural farms, ownership of tractor, farm livestock were associated with food security conditions of the farming community. The data results also confirmed that the poorer families made major expenditure on the food out of total household expenditure every month. It was also revealed that households in the irrigated regions of Punjab have better entitlement as compared with households surveyed from Thal (desert) and rain-fed regions. The daily consumption of eggs, milk and various forms of meat was found below daily recommended nutritional requirements in most of the households. This study confirms the findings of the earlier surveys made in this regard and highlights the demand side of food insecurity issues in Punjab province of Pakistan. Food security policies in Pakistan should focus entitlement and food access of farming households. The household and farm assets need to be built for reducing vulnerability of poorer farming community to food insecurity in Pakistan.