IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/cmpart/265575.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Intrahousehold Decision Making And Implications On Food Security Among Smallholder Farmers In Chepalungu Constituency, Bomet County, Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Langat, Cheruiyot Peter

Abstract

Food insecurity is still prevalent in many parts of the world. Despite several research attempts to alleviate food insecurity in Kenya, estimates indicate that approximately 50% of Kenyans are food insecure with 10% in constant need of food relief. One of the causes of food insecurity as it has been reported by other scholars is gender inequality. Women, especially in developing countries have been reported to significantly contribute to food production compared to men while in decision making they are often subordinate to men. However, the role of intra-household decision making in influencing food security remains unclear. This study therefore sought to examine the implication of intra-household decision making on household food security among the smallholder farmers in Chepalungu constituency, Bomet County Kenya. Multistage sampling method was used to obtain a sample of 150 smallholder farmer households. Structured questionnaires and interviews were used to obtain the information. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, Logit and Poisson models with the use of SPSS and STATA computer programs. The results indicated that majority (52.7%) of the households were food insecure signifying high level of food shortages in the area. Male headed households were found to be food insecure as compared to their female counterparts. The logistic regression results revealed that age, gender, land size, household size, years of education and income significantly influenced household food security. The results also revealed the probability of household being food secure is high when consumption decisions are made by women than when they are made by men. The study proves that intra-household decision making has an important role to play in influencing household food security. Therefore, gender based resource allocation and women empowerment policies should be encouraged in order to ensure that households are food secure.

Suggested Citation

  • Langat, Cheruiyot Peter, 2016. "Intrahousehold Decision Making And Implications On Food Security Among Smallholder Farmers In Chepalungu Constituency, Bomet County, Kenya," Research Theses 265575, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:cmpart:265575
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.265575
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/265575/files/CHERUIYOT%20PETER%20LANGAT%20THESIS.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/265575/files/CHERUIYOT%20PETER%20LANGAT%20THESIS.pdf?subformat=pdfa
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.265575?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Haile, H.K. & Alemu, Zerihun Gudeta & Kudhlande, G., 2005. "Causes Of Household Food Insecurity In Koredegaga Peasant Association, Oromiya Zone, Ethiopia," Working Paper Series 28074, University of the Free State, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    2. Zahid Asghar & Muhammad Ahmad, 2015. "Socio-Economic Determinants of Household Food Insecurity in Pakistan," International Journal of Economics and Empirical Research (IJEER), The Economics and Social Development Organization (TESDO), vol. 3(1), pages 6-18, January.
    3. Rogers, Beatrice Lorge, 1996. "The implications of female household headship for food consumption and nutritional status in the Dominican Republic," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 113-128, January.
    4. Smith, Lisa C. & Byron, Elizabeth M., 2005. "Is greater decisionmaking power of women associated with reduced gender discrimination in South Asia?," FCND discussion papers 200, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Hoddinott, John & Yohannes, Yisehac, 2002. "Dietary diversity as a food security indicator," FCND discussion papers 136, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Kidane, Habtom & Alemu, Zerihun Gudeta & Kundhlande, Godfrey, 2005. "Causes of household food insecurity in Koredegaga Peasant Association, Oromiya Zone, Ethiopia," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 44(4), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Akresh, Richard, 2005. "Understanding Pareto Inefficient Intrahousehold Allocations," IZA Discussion Papers 1858, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Variyam, Jayachandran N. & Blaylock, James R. & Smallwood, David M. & Basiotis, P. Peter, 1998. "USDA's Healthy Eating Index and Nutrition Information," Technical Bulletins 33588, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    9. Chiappori, Pierre-Andre, 1988. "Rational Household Labor Supply," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(1), pages 63-90, January.
    10. Maluccio, John A. & Flores, Rafael, 2004. "Impact evaluation of a conditional cash transfer program," FCND discussion papers 184, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Maxwell, Simon, 1996. "Food security: a post-modern perspective," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 155-170, May.
    12. Wanki Moon & Wojciech Florkowski & Larry Beuchat & Anna Resurreccion & Pavlina Paraskova & Jordan Jordanov & Manjeet Chinnan, 2002. "Demand for food variety in an emerging market economy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(5), pages 573-581.
    13. Shiferaw T. Feleke & Richard L. Kilmer & Christina H. Gladwin, 2005. "Determinants of food security in Southern Ethiopia at the household level," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 33(3), pages 351-363, November.
    14. Chiappori, Pierre-Andre, 1992. "Collective Labor Supply and Welfare," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(3), pages 437-467, June.
    15. Andrew Dorward, 1999. "Farm size and productivity in Malawian smallholder agriculture," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(5), pages 141-161.
    16. Smith, Lisa C. & Haddad, Lawrence James, 2000. "Explaining child malnutrition in developing countries: a cross-country analysis," Research reports 111, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Doss, Cheryl R., 1996. "Testing among models of intrahousehold resource allocation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(10), pages 1597-1609, October.
    18. Beyene, Fekadu & Muche, Mequanent, 2010. "Determinants of Food Security among Rural Households of Central Ethiopia: An Empirical Analysis," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 49(4), pages 1-20.
    19. Amber Peterman & Agnes Quisumbing & Julia Behrman & Ephraim Nkonya, 2011. "Understanding the Complexities Surrounding Gender Differences in Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria and Uganda," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(10), pages 1482-1509.
    20. Jean D. Opsomer & Helen H. Jensen & Suwen Pan, 2002. "Evaluation of the USDA Food Security Measure with Generalized Linear Mixed Models, An," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 02-wp310, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    21. van Zyl, Johan & Binswanger, Hans & Thirtle, Colin, 1995. "The relationship between farm size and efficiency in South African agriculture," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1548, The World Bank.
    22. Kanbur, R., 1991. "Linear Expenditure Systems, Children as Public Goods and Intra-Household Inequality," Papers 104, Warwick - Development Economics Research Centre.
    23. Agnes R. Quisumbing & John A. Maluccio, 2003. "Resources at Marriage and Intrahousehold Allocation: Evidence from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and South Africa," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 65(3), pages 283-327, July.
    24. Eswaran, Mukesh & Kotwal, Ashok, 1989. "Credit as insurance in agrarian economies," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 37-53, July.
    25. repec:mpr:mprres:2415 is not listed on IDEAS
    26. Feleke, Shiferaw T. & Kilmer, Richard L. & Gladwin, Christina H., 2003. "Determinants Of Food Security In Southern Ethiopia," 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada 22010, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    27. Isaac B. Oluwatayo, 2004. "Income Risk and Welfare Status of Rural Households in Nigeria: Ekiti State as a Test Case," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2004-61, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    28. Cornia, Giovanni Andrea, 1985. "Farm size, land yields and the agricultural production function: An analysis for fifteen developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 513-534, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sara Ratna Qanti & Alexandra Peralta & Di Zeng, 2022. "Social norms and perceptions drive women’s participation in agricultural decisions in West Java, Indonesia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(2), pages 645-662, June.
    2. Philippe LeMay-Boucher, 2007. "Inside Beninese Households: How Spouses Manage their Personal Income," CERT Discussion Papers 0705, Centre for Economic Reform and Transformation, Heriot Watt University.
    3. Adeeba Ishaq & Mahmood Khalid & Eatzaz Ahmad, 2018. "Food Insecurity in Pakistan: A RegionWise Analysis of Trends," PIDE-Working Papers 2018:157, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    4. Ahmed Raza CHEEMA* & Zafar ABBAS**, 2016. "Determinants of food Insecurity in Pakistan: Evidence from PSLM 2010-11," Pakistan Journal of Applied Economics, Applied Economics Research Centre, vol. 26(2), pages 183-213.
    5. Abafita, Jemal & Kim, Kyung-Ryang, 2014. "Determinants of Household Food Security in Rural Ethiopia: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Rural Development/Nongchon-Gyeongje, Korea Rural Economic Institute, vol. 37(2), pages 1-29.
    6. Seth R. Gitter & Bradford L. Barham, 2008. "Women's Power, Conditional Cash Transfers, and Schooling in Nicaragua," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 22(2), pages 271-290, May.
    7. Luc Dossa & Barbara Rischkowsky & Regina Birner & Clemens Wollny, 2008. "Socio-economic determinants of keeping goats and sheep by rural people in southern Benin," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 25(4), pages 581-592, December.
    8. Rashid, Dewan Arif & Smith, Lisa C. & Rahman, Tauhidur, 2011. "Determinants of Dietary Quality: Evidence from Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2221-2231.
    9. Soumya Gupta & Prabhu L. Pingali & Per Pinstrup-Andersen, 2017. "Women’s empowerment in Indian agriculture: does market orientation of farming systems matter?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(6), pages 1447-1463, December.
    10. Johnston, David W. & Kassenboehmer, Sonja C. & Shields, Michael A., 2016. "Financial decision-making in the household: Exploring the importance of survey respondent, health, cognitive ability and personality," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 132(PA), pages 42-61.
    11. Chau, Tak Wai & Li, Hongbin & Liu, Pak Wai & Zhang, Junsen, 2007. "Testing the collective model of household labor supply: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 389-402.
    12. Denni Tommasi, 2016. "Household Responses to cash Transfers," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2016-20, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    13. Matthias Doepke & Michèle Tertilt, 2019. "Does female empowerment promote economic development?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 309-343, December.
    14. Malapit, Hazel Jean L., 2012. "Why do spouses hide income?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 584-593.
    15. Rana Hendy & Catherine Sofer, 2010. "A Collective Model of Female Labor Supply : Do Distribution Factors Matter in the Egyptian Case ?," Post-Print halshs-00482492, HAL.
    16. Xu, Zeyu, 2007. "A survey on intra-household models and evidence," MPRA Paper 3763, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Mukarumbwa, P. & Mushunje, Abbyssinia, 2010. "Potential of Sorghum and Finger Millet to Enhance Household Food Security in Zimbabwe's Semi-arid Regions: A Review," 2010 AAAE Third Conference/AEASA 48th Conference, September 19-23, 2010, Cape Town, South Africa 96430, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    18. Schady, Norbert & Rosero, José, 2008. "Are cash transfers made to women spent like other sources of income?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 246-248, December.
    19. Kimhi, Ayal, 2003. "Plot Size And Maize Productivity In Zambia: The Inverse Relationship Re-Examined," Discussion Papers 14980, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Agricultural Economics and Management.
    20. Bashir, Muhammad Khalid & Schilizzi, Steven & Pandit, Ram, 2012. "The Determinants of Rural Household Food Security in the Punjab, Pakistan: An Econometric Analysis," Working Papers 122526, University of Western Australia, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:cmpart:265575. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.agriculturaleconomics.net .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.