Assessment of food security status in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India: using fao’s food insecurity experience scale

India faces the highest burden of hunger, with nearly 200 million undernourished people struggling with food insecurity. The international community has tasked the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with monitoring progress toward the World Food Summit and U.N. Millennium Development Goals targets. FAO has developed the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) from the Voices of the Hungry project to compare food security across different populations, including gender groups. There is a need for published research on the food security situation in the Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh, India. Data on the prevalence of mild, moderate or severe food insecurity in this region is required. This research examines (1) the mild, moderate, and severe food insecurity rates in the Aligarh district and (2) the socio-economic variables that lead to food insecurity. In October and November of 2022, 300 households in the Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh, India, were selected by multistage sampling, and face-to-face surveys were conducted. A simple percentile and Poisson regression analysis determined the relation between household variables and food security. According to the findings, only 23% of Aligarh households were considered food secure. While 14.3% were considered to be in a severe state of food insecurity, the remaining 52.7% and 10% were in a mild or moderate state of food insecurity, respectively. Food insecurity is more prevalent among households in the 18–34 age groups residing in rural areas, particularly those who are unmarried, part of nuclear households, single, not engaged in full-time employment, possess a low monthly income, and lack access to land and free medical care. India’s food security policy needs to shift from prioritizing food entitlement to addressing factors such as household composition, income, work, and free medical care.