International Journal of Agriculture and Food Security ISSN: 0812-3497 Vol. 6(1), pp. 168-182, April, 2019 © Advanced Scholars Journals

Full length Research paper

Determinants of Household Food Security in Musanze District, Rwanda

Thomas Gill¹*, Amanda Kaeser¹, David Ader¹, Emily Urban¹, Tracy Bucyana²

¹ University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, Smith International Center, 2640 Morgan Circle Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996 USA

² Zamura Feeds, Inc., Ruhungeri, Musanze District, Rwanda 

Accepted 28 March, 2019.

Abstract

Despite significant economic growth and development in Rwanda over the past 20 years, twenty percent of Rwandan households remain food insecure. Interventions to address the wide variations in household food insecurity in Rwanda need to be data-driven. It is important to first characterize the household food security landscape within an intervention’s proposed target area, so that stakeholders can design appropriate food security interventions. The food security status of households in Musanze District, northwest  Rwanda, was measured using both an experience-based scale and a 24-hour dietary recall method, and calculated regression models to identify the significant determinants of household food security in Musanze District. Findings indicated that urban households which owned multiple assets, and had a household member with an education beyond primary school were most likely to be food secure in Musanze District. Amount of food purchased from the market was also identified as a significant determinant of household food security in the dietary recall model. Implications include the need to: 1) use multiple measures for food security characterization, 2) consider multiple educational pathways in food security interventions for long-term, sustainable impact, and, 3) base food security interventions on appropriate-scale data, including spatial context, to result in intended impacts.

Key words: dietary diversity; nutrition; Africa; education; appropriate-scale data.