Afghan Immigrant Women's Food Security in Farahzad and Shahrerey

Despite the Afghan immigrant longstanding presence in Iran, they remain excluded from key aspects of social, political and economic life in the country. Afghan immigrants are a potential vulnerable group and women and children could be at risk of food insecurity.
A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of food insecurity among Afghan immigrant women in Farahzad and Shahrerey. 150 Afghan immigrant women who were registered in four non-gvernmental organizations participated in the study and filled out the Radimer-Cronell food insecurity questionnaire. The Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis test were used to analyze data.
More than 84% of participants were suffering from food insecurity. They reported food insecurity in subscales of household (96%), adult (93%) and child (84.7%). Food insecurity was significantly more prevalent among female-headed households, women who were illiterate and those with illegal residential status.
Although participants in this study had been served by NGOs, prevalence of food insecurity was relatively high. Policy makers need to consider the food access programs regardless of legality of Afghan women's immigration.