Coping strategies and food insecurity experiences : the case of female-headed agricultural households in Liberia

PURPOSE : Realities of food insecurity are more pronounced with a specific focus on women in developing countries. The need to understand the varied food insecurity experiences among female-headed agricultural households in such contexts provided the rationale and motivation for this study. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : The study employed a quantitative cross-sectional approach, drawing on the binary logistic regression to determine the influence of socioeconomic status on household coping mechanisms in response to food insecurity in a stratified random sample of 509 female-headed agricultural households in Liberia. FINDINGS : The results revealed that most respondents experienced food insecurity reflected in inadequate food availability, an inability to eat nutritious food and the necessity to skip meals. In response, they employed coping strategies such as borrowing money, selling assets, and reducing health expenses, which were influenced by socioeconomic characteristics such as gender, education, and marital status. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS : The study illustrates the multi-layered and complex context of food insecurity among women. From these findings, the study proposes the consideration of such dynamics to inform practical and relevant mitigatory policy approaches to the target demographic. SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS : With food insecurity being a social problem, the study identifies its social impact by documenting the participants' lived experiences. Thus, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of food insecurity across different segments of society. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : The study draws its originality from understanding how food insecurity impacts female-headed households, highlighting the often-ignored gender dynamics of food insecurity in developing nations and aggregating the coping strategies and food insecurity expenses.https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/0007-070Xhj2024School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA)SDG-01:No povertySDG-02:Zero Hunge

POLICY ANALYSIS IN SCHOOL MEALS PROGRAM: REGULATION IMPACTS ON IN-SCHOOL FOOD FORTIFICATION

Background: Food fortification refers to the process of adding nutrients to foods during their production. It is a cost-effective strategy with well-documented health, economic, and social benefits. Food fortification practices in school meal programs need guidance and legal support from various national policies. Aim: This study aims to analyze how various national policies—such as those related to school feeding, nutrition, health, food safety, agriculture, and the private sector—associate with the implementation of in-school food fortification among countries with school meals programs. Methods: The Bayesian Mindsponge Framework, combining the reasoning strengths of Mindsponge Theory and inference advantages of Bayesian analysis, was employed on a dataset of 126 government representatives who manage large-scale school meal programs in 126 different countries. Results: Findings showed that food safety policy and agriculture policy were positively and significantly associated with the in-school food fortification practices, while school feeding policy and private sector policy had ambiguous relationships with these practices. Nutrition policy and health policy had a significant negative association with food fortification practices among countries implementing school meal programs. Conclusions: Findings underscore the strong position of food safety policy and agriculture policy in guiding food fortification practices in school meal programs. There is a need to re-assess the implemented nutrition policy and health policy due to their significant negative associations with these practices. Enhancing and strengthening the school feeding policy and private sector policy may increase their potencies in giving positive impacts on in-school food fortification practices

PROMOTING FOOD BIOFORTIFICATION IN AGRICULTURAL SECTORS THROUGH SCHOOL MEALS PROGRAM: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NATIONAL POLICIES

Background: Food biofortification practices in agricultural sectors involve the process of employing biotechnology to enhance the nutritional content of crops during their growth process. Biofortification makes foods even more nutritious and highly functional for addressing malnutrition among children. These practices in farming industries need guidance and legal support from various national policies to support high-quality supplies of school meals fully. Aim: This study aims to analyze the association between various national policies and the implementation of food biofortification practices in agricultural sectors among countries implementing school meal programs. Methods: The Bayesian Mindsponge Framework, combining the reasoning strengths of Mindsponge Theory and inference advantages of Bayesian analysis, was employed on a dataset of 126 government representatives who manage large-scale school meal programs in 126 different countries. Results: Findings showed that food safety policy was positively associated with food biofortification practices in agricultural sectors among countries implementing school meal programs. In contrast, nutrition policy had a significant negative association with these practices. Additionally, policies of school feeding, health, agriculture, and the private sector had unclear associations with food biofortification. Conclusions: Findings underscore the strong position of food safety policy in guiding food biofortification practices in agricultural sectors among countries implementing school meal programs. There is a need to re-assess the implemented nutrition policy due to its significant negative association with these practices. Enhancing and strengthening the policies of school feeding, health, agriculture, and the private sector may increase their potencies in giving positive impacts on food biofortification practices in agricultural sectors to ensure high-quality school meal supplies