Does Social Parameters and Landholding Size Affect Household Food Security in Rural India

Past studies have proved that various factors affect household food security. This paper presents whether social groups, family size and landholding sizes are related to food security of the households. Consumption of food groups as per household recommended requirement is considered as food security in this paper. Subsample of 315 households from 39 villages of Mathapada Gram Panchayat and 8 villages from Doraguda Gram Panchayat in Boipariguda block in Koraput district of Odisha state, India were taken for the study. Results of the study show that social group and family size have significant effect on the gap between consumption and household food groups and nutrients requirement, while landholding did not show any effect. Intervention studies and knowledge on consumption of own production and marketing of excess produce should be emphasized. Government entitlements should focus on decreasing the gap between the consumption and household requirement by increasing the accessibility to foods and making the rural households food secure.