The Status and Determinants of Food Security among Rural Households in Bahar County, Hamadan Province

Food security is a challenge of the coming decades and the research necessity of today’s world. This study aimed to identify the status and factors affecting the food security of rural households in Bahar County. The statistical population of the study included all rural households’ heads in Bahar County (N = 1100) in which the number of 388 ones was estimated as a statistical sample using the Morgan table and selected through stratified sampling according to both criteria of population and geographical area. The standard questionnaire of Cornell was used to assess food security. The results showed that 51.8% of the study population were in secure conditions and 48.2% were in insecure food conditions. About 9.3% of rural households experienced food insecurity with severe hunger, and most of them lived in the western villages of Bahar County. The results also showed that food security has a significant, positive correlation with economic and personal factors such as education level, agricultural and non-agricultural income, and agricultural and horticultural area under cultivation, while showing negative correlation with geographical and social factors such as distance from the village to city and household size. The results of multiple regression also showed that income from agricultural activities was the strongest predictor of food security among rural households in Bahar County, followed by income from non-agricultural activities, the number of employed people among a household and the number of dependents respectively. As a result, income diversification can be a suitable mechanism for improving the food security of rural households.