An Assessment of Food Security in Urban Households With Children Under Five Years of Age the Case of Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

This research sought to assess the state of food security in urban households with children under five years of age, with Nairobi County as a case study. While utilizing data from a parent study by the Hungry Cities Partnership Project, this study was guided by three research questions: (1) what are the demographic and economic characteristics of households with children below five years in Nairobi?; (2) what is the state of food security in urban households with children under five years of age in Nairobi?; and (3) what demographic and economic dynamics influence the state of food security in urban households with children below five years in Nairobi? Two hypotheses relating the household size and household’s Lived Poverty Index with its food security status was also tested. This study was based on the Ecological Systems Theory adopted from the field of psychology. Data were obtained from the parent study’s database using the query “what was the household member’s age at his/her last birthday?” and this led to the establishment of a sample size of 479 households. Data were analyzed through the use of descriptive statistics, Kruskal Wallis test, the Chi-Square test, and calculating the food security status of the surveyed households. The Kruskal Wallis test was applied during the testing of the hypotheses. This analysis revealed household size, household structure, and the employment status of household heads as the demographic characteristics of the study households while household income, LPI, reliance on non-market food sources, and their experience on unaffordable food prices were the identified households’ demographic characteristics. 41.4% of the study households were also found to be food secure and 58.6% food insecure. Further analysis revealed that six out of the seven identified demographic and economic characteristics of the study households had a significant impact on their food security. The two null hypotheses were also rejected and this led to the conclusion that the demographic and economic characteristics of the study households significantly impact their food security status. Therefore, it was recommended that the Kenyan government and other stakeholders should utilize a holistic approach when addressing food security issues in urban households. For future research, the study suggested that a similar study should be conducted in Nairobi and other cities of Kenya for comparative purposes, especially in the present socio-economic developments in urban areas and the pandemic that has struck the world.