Measurement of household food security in India

Abstract

Household food security has attained significance due to mounting food crisis. Food, being one of the 
most basic needs for living, has become one of the most vital concerns for the world, as more and more 
people are living in poverty and hungry. The present study examines the dynamism of quality food 
availability, access and affordability by the rural households in two selected districts, that is, Bhandara 
and Chandrapur in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, India. Two blocks each from Bhandara (Sakoli and 
Pauni) and Chandrapur (Bhadravati and Warora) districts were selected randomly. Furthermore, two 
villages from each block were selected randomly. Twenty-five (25) respondents were selected randomly 
from each of the sampled eight villages. Thus, a total of 200 respondents from two districts constituted 
the sample for the study. The study revealed that household food security status of the rural 
households was found low (59%) followed by very low (20%) and medium (16.50%) status of household 
food security. The overall household food security status was found low among below poverty line 
(BPL) household as compared to above poverty line (APL) households.