An Assessment of Status and Determinants of Food Security in Female-headed Households in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

The global urban population is increasing in time and space and much of the urban population increase is in the developing world. A number of social, economic, environmental and spatial challenges accompanies the high rate of urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa. Among the emerging challenges is increasing household food insecurity, especially within the vulnerable groups of the urban population. One of these vulnerable groups is the female-headed households. As such, the study aimed at assessing food security in female-headed households in Nairobi. The objectives of the study were to examine the characteristics of female-headed households, to analyse the status of food security in female-headed households, and to assess the factors that determine food security in female-headed households. The study used secondary data from Hungry Cities Partnership (HCP) dataset. The study sub-population was all the 1,434 sampled households from the HCP Nairobi Household Survey dataset, from which all the 295 cases of the female-centered or female-headed households were selected for further analysis. The main variables that were analysed include age, marital status, migration status, level of education, and work status of the female household heads, as well as household size, monthly income, reliance on other food sources, household experience with unfavourable food prices, and food security conditions. Analysis of food security conditions was done using FAO’s FANTA measures (Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance) to determine the households’ food security and dietary diversity. Cross tabulations using SPSS were also done to determine relationships between study variables. The results show that majority of the female household heads in Nairobi are in their youthful generation (16-35 years), are unmarried, are migrants to Nairobi, have attained secondary level of school education, and are engaged in gainful employment, with the main source of income being self-employment. These results imply that young female headship of households is an emerging characteristic among urban households, especially in Nairobi. In addition, more women continue to join the rural-urban migration streams in Kenya. In terms of household characteristics, female-headed households in Nairobi have between 4 to 6 members, have a low monthly income of KES 10,000 and less, rarely relied on other sources of food (food transfers or growing food), and reported that they were affected by high and unaffordable process of food. Over half of the households stated that they experienced food insecurity in various degrees with 26.4% having a dietary diversity score of 0-4, showing lack of diversity in their diet. The study tested the hypotheses that female-headed households’ food security is not influenced by household heads characteristics on the one hand, and household characteristics on the other hand. The results 6 indicate that the main determinants of food security in households headed by females in Nairobi are household monthly income, reliance on own grown food, reliance on food transfers from rural home and household experience of unaffordable food prices. The characteristics of household heads, i.e., age, marital status, migration status, level of education, and work status, do not have a significant effect on female-headed households’ food security situation. The study recommends systematic implementation of the existing pro-poor policies and programmes that relate to employment creation, reduction of food prices and social security systems to the vulnerable groups. In addition, County governments to develop programmes that encourage, train and empower women and youth in urban centres to venture into sustainable urban farming practices as an economic enterprise within the small and micro enterprises (SME) sector of the urban economy.