Constructing a Model for Investigating the Effects of Rural-Urban Linkages on Food Security in Dehdasht Peri-urban Settlements

Nowadays, changes in food consumption patterns due to urbanization, increasing per capita consumption, economic growth and the move from local to global in the consumer markets necessitate ensuring food security for different countries, especially developing ones. This study investigates the impact of rural-urban linkages affected by spatial flows on food security. The present research method is quantitative and has been conducted by employing a descriptive-analytical method. The research population consisted of households in peri-urban villages of Dehdasht. Twenty one villages were randomly selected using Cochran's formula. 358 households were randomly selected from 3538 households using Cochran's formula. Correlation and regression analysis were conducted using SPSS to analyze the collected data. In addition, the structural equation model (SEM) of partial least squares regression (PLS) method was applied using SMART PLS 3. The results indicate that rural-urban linkages affected by spatial flows (independent variable) with a T value of 27.678 and a path coefficient of 0.745 have a positive effect on food security (dependent variable). Moreover, the results of multivariate linear regression showed that the social linkage and the economic linkage variable with the values 0.509 and 0.151 respectively had the greatest and the least impact on food security.