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Determinants of food security in Tanzania: gendered dimensions of household headship and control of resources

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  • Ryan Mason
  • Patrick Ndlovu
  • John Parkins
  • Marty Luckert

Abstract

This paper examines heterogeneous impacts of gendered household headship and control of resources on food security in rural Tanzania (as measured by a World Food Programme score based on quantity and quality of food consumed in the household over a 7 day period). Analysis with minimal attention to heterogeneity in gender considerations indicates no differences in household food security between male and female-headed households. But with a more differentiated household headship variable (reflecting heterogeneity in household composition) and accounting for gendered differences in resource ownership, the results differ markedly. Using more gender-disaggregated variables, our results show significant differences between female-headed and male-headed households. In these results we find support for the claim that gender norms in the study villages often restrict women’s access to resources, resulting in more vulnerable female-headed households. Female-headed households with no male adults present are particularly vulnerable. The study also points to specific opportunities for enhanced food security with attention to female and joint ownership of livestock. These results represent a hopeful sign that efforts to enhance female livestock ownership could be a useful strategy to address lower levels of food consumption in these Tanzanian villages. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

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  • Ryan Mason & Patrick Ndlovu & John Parkins & Marty Luckert, 2015. "Determinants of food security in Tanzania: gendered dimensions of household headship and control of resources," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(3), pages 539-549, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:32:y:2015:i:3:p:539-549
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-014-9568-5
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    2. Subir Bairagi & Ashok K. Mishra & Dat Q. Tran, 2022. "Disentangling gender‐differentiated impacts on food security and poverty: Empirical evidence from Vietnam," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(3), pages 493-511, April.
    3. William Nkomoki & Miroslava Bavorová & Jan Banout, 2019. "Factors Associated with Household Food Security in Zambia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-18, May.
    4. Md Kamrul Hasan & Sam Desiere & Marijke D’Haese & Lalit Kumar, 2018. "Impact of climate-smart agriculture adoption on the food security of coastal farmers in Bangladesh," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(4), pages 1073-1088, August.
    5. Mr. Matthieu Bellon & Carlo Pizzinelli & Mr. Roberto Perrelli, 2020. "Household Consumption Volatility and Poverty Risk: Case Studies from South Africa and Tanzania," IMF Working Papers 2020/051, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Montcho, Marthe & Padonou, Elie A. & Montcho, Marlise & Mutua, Meshack N. & Bayen, Phillip, 2023. "Impact of land tenure on livelihoods of women livestock-keepers in Burkina Faso," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. Ryan Mason & John R. Parkins & Amy Kaler, 2017. "Gendered mobilities and food security: exploring possibilities for human movement within hunger prone rural Tanzania," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 423-434, June.
    8. Dzanku, Fred Mawunyo, 2019. "Food security in rural sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the nexus between gender, geography and off-farm employment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 26-43.
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