International Journal of Agriculture and Food Security (IJAFS) ISSN 0812-3497 Vol. 6(1), pp. 183-188, June, 2020.  © Advanced Scholars Journals

Full length Research paper

Qualitative assessment of Food insecurity of Agricultural households in Madagascar

Dr. Zafitody C^1*, Pr Sylvain R²and Pr Romaine R²

^*1Lecturer, University of Toamasina, Higher Regional Institute of Technology of the East Coast.

²Full Professors, University of Antananarivo, Higher School of Agronomic Sciences,

*Corresponding Author’s Email:[email protected]

Accepted 5 June, 2020

Abstract 

Madagascar is highly exposed to major climatic risks, which is why this research focuses on the qualitative assessment of the level of food insecurity of agricultural households in rural Madagascar. The goal of food crop agriculture is self-sufficiency. All the conditions for production are met. Rice is the principal food of the population, given that every farmer grows rice. Rice cultivation even becomes a custom because a growing season without rice is a blank year. However, it is rare that a farmer can cover his need for rice with his own production. Food insecurity remains permanent, about 95.5% of the cases, and its manifestation varies from one household to another. The objective of this study is to propose a tool to qualitatively assess food insecurity in rural areas in the Atsinanana Region. The results have led to a tool called the food insecurity scale that classifies the level of food insecurity of producers. With this scale, the following food insecurity level ranking was obtained: 69% severe, 23% moderate and 8% acceptable. The methodological principle chosen was, in addition to the literature review, a survey toward 150 people and a total of 6 focus groups in the locality of the producers. The particular interest of this work is the fact that such a tool would allow managers to better understand the realities before elaborating a development project.

Key words: food security, household, food insecurity, food availability, food accessibility