Food Security Strategies Followed by the Farmers of a Disaster Prone Haor Area of Kishoreganj District

The study was undertaken to determine the nature and severity of food security strategies followed by the farmers of the disaster prone haor area of Kishoreganj district. Relationships between the severity of food security strategies of the farmers and their selected characteristics were also explored. The study was conducted in two villages under Itna upazila of Kishoreganj district. Data were collected from a sample of 150 farmers, who were randomly selected from the population of 1,001 farmers living in the study area. A four point rating scale was used to obtain the severity of 16 selected food security strategies followed by the farmers in the study area. Data were collected during August to October 2009 through face to face interview by using a pre-tested interview schedule. The common food security strategies followed by the farmers in the study area were: spending money from deposit, relying on less preferred and less expansive food items, borrowing money from NGOs and local moneylenders, reducing number of meals in a day, selling land and other assets (tools, seeds, livestock etc.), mortgaging land and ornaments, limiting/reducing amount of food per meal, reducing adult consumption for the sake of children. According to the severity of food security strategy score, an overwhelming majority (84 percent) of the respondents were in medium level severity compared to 12 percent and 4 percent having low and high level severity of food security, respectively. Severity of food security strategies followed by the farmers had negatively correlated with their age, family size, local orientation, farm size, annual family income and extension media contact, while no significant relationship was observed with education and organizational participation.