Household Food Security: Determinants and Perceived Challenges in Mountains of Azad Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract

In mountainous areas of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir, people practice subsistence agriculture. As the output from agriculture very low, the mountain zones experience the ill effects of food insecurity. This study scrutinizes food security status in the mountainous territories of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and proposes actions to achieve food security. A contextual investigation of 3 tehsils, situated in all the Haveli area, was led and an all-out number of 351 sampled households were reached through a simple random sampling strategy using a structured questionnaire as a tool for collecting data and used for various factors responsible for food security status and the affect they have on food security at the household level. We used binary regression analysis to identify factors affecting food security in the target area. This investigation discloses that 90 % of the sampled households are suffering from food insecurity. From the exponential values of coefficient binary logistic regression, it is concluded that Gender, Occupation, Landholding, Income, Low income, High population, remoteness, Low landholding, and firing online of control affected food security in the mountain areas. The significant but negative association of low income, low land holding, high population, remoteness, and firing online of control could lead to food insecurity. Also, there was a positive and significant association between food security and household income. An increase in income resulted in improved food security as this justifies the need to focus on educating people on food security, community-based intervention for development, and creating employment opportunities that generate income enough to meet food security requirements along with providing better social and infrastructure facilities to minimize hazards of remoteness.