The Spatial Analysis of the Effect of Off-Farm Income on the Food Security of Rural Households in Iran: Application of a Spatial Econometric Approach with Panel Data

Providing food security to rural households is one of the goals pursued in national development plans. Therefore, off-farm income provides more financial resources to rural households and thus increases their food security. Given the role of food security in human health and development, the present research aims to explore the spatial effects of off-farm income on the food security of rural households in all provinces of Iran.

The status of food security of rural households in Iran was determined using data from 206963 Household Income and Expenditure Surveys and the recommended dietary for the Iranian population. Besides, the effectiveness of off-farm income on food security of rural families along with other effective factors was investigated the first time using the panel spatial autoregressive (SAR) model for the period from 2006 to 2016 with Stata software.

The results from the SAR model suggested that off-farm income has a positive and significant effect on the rural food security index. On the other hand, the significant value of the spatial lag coefficient of the dependent variable confirmed the existence of spatial effects, indicating that off-farm income has a positive and significant effect on food security.

Given that agricultural activities are mainly seasonal, off-farm activities along with conventional agricultural activities can improve the food security of rural households and prevent their migration to cities.