Gendered Analysis of Food Security Gaps in Rural Nepal
Gender studies on food security have often focused on the differences between male-headed households (MHHs) and female-headed households (FHHs). Hence, they have mostly ignored the possibility of food security gaps between the different types of FHHs, treating them as homogeneous. Therefore, using nationally representative data from Nepal and applying exogenous switching treatment effect regression models, this study investigated whether food security differences exist between de facto FHHs (i.e., households managed by a woman whose husband is physically not present at home owing to work outside) and de jure FHHs (i.e., households managed by a single, widowed, or divorced woman). Contrary to the general hypothesis, this study did not find any significant difference in the food security status between MHHs and FHHs. Nevertheless, it found that food security is significantly lower among de jure FHHs than among MHHs. More surprising, considering the common belief, is that the food security difference between de facto FHHs and de jure FHHs is larger than the difference between de jure FHHs and MHHs. It is possible to explain these gaps between MHHs and de jure FHHs by unobserved heterogeneity effects but not by treatment effects, while both treatment effects (i.e., differences in returns to their assets, such as participation in off-farm income) and unobserved heterogeneity effects explain the differences between de facto and de jure FHHs. The results have important policy implications, primarily because they reject the general notion that FHHs are less food secure, and strongly recommend a deeper investigation into the heterogeneity among FHHs. This has a crucial implication for designing government policy related to two important Sustainable Development Goals—gender equality and food security.
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Format: | Working Paper biblioteca |
Language: | English |
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Asian Development Bank Institute
2021
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Subjects: | AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, GENDER, FOOD SECURITY, GENDER EQUALITY, HOUSEHOLDS, |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10883/21952 |
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dig-cimmyt-10883-219522022-02-09T10:00:19Z Gendered Analysis of Food Security Gaps in Rural Nepal Aryal, J.P. Rahut, D.B. Gartaula, H. AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY GENDER FOOD SECURITY GENDER EQUALITY HOUSEHOLDS Gender studies on food security have often focused on the differences between male-headed households (MHHs) and female-headed households (FHHs). Hence, they have mostly ignored the possibility of food security gaps between the different types of FHHs, treating them as homogeneous. Therefore, using nationally representative data from Nepal and applying exogenous switching treatment effect regression models, this study investigated whether food security differences exist between de facto FHHs (i.e., households managed by a woman whose husband is physically not present at home owing to work outside) and de jure FHHs (i.e., households managed by a single, widowed, or divorced woman). Contrary to the general hypothesis, this study did not find any significant difference in the food security status between MHHs and FHHs. Nevertheless, it found that food security is significantly lower among de jure FHHs than among MHHs. More surprising, considering the common belief, is that the food security difference between de facto FHHs and de jure FHHs is larger than the difference between de jure FHHs and MHHs. It is possible to explain these gaps between MHHs and de jure FHHs by unobserved heterogeneity effects but not by treatment effects, while both treatment effects (i.e., differences in returns to their assets, such as participation in off-farm income) and unobserved heterogeneity effects explain the differences between de facto and de jure FHHs. The results have important policy implications, primarily because they reject the general notion that FHHs are less food secure, and strongly recommend a deeper investigation into the heterogeneity among FHHs. This has a crucial implication for designing government policy related to two important Sustainable Development Goals—gender equality and food security. 23 pages 2022-02-05T01:15:16Z 2022-02-05T01:15:16Z 2021 Working Paper Published Version https://hdl.handle.net/10883/21952 English CIMMYT manages Intellectual Assets as International Public Goods. The user is free to download, print, store and share this work. In case you want to translate or create any other derivative work and share or distribute such translation/derivative work, please contact CIMMYT-Knowledge-Center@cgiar.org indicating the work you want to use and the kind of use you intend; CIMMYT will contact you with the suitable license for that purpose Open Access Nepal Tokio (Japan) Asian Development Bank Institute |
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AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY GENDER FOOD SECURITY GENDER EQUALITY HOUSEHOLDS AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY GENDER FOOD SECURITY GENDER EQUALITY HOUSEHOLDS |
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AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY GENDER FOOD SECURITY GENDER EQUALITY HOUSEHOLDS AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY GENDER FOOD SECURITY GENDER EQUALITY HOUSEHOLDS Aryal, J.P. Rahut, D.B. Gartaula, H. Gendered Analysis of Food Security Gaps in Rural Nepal |
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Gender studies on food security have often focused on the differences between male-headed households (MHHs) and female-headed households (FHHs). Hence, they have mostly ignored the possibility of food security gaps between the different types of FHHs, treating them as homogeneous. Therefore, using nationally representative data from Nepal and applying exogenous switching treatment effect regression models, this study investigated whether food security differences exist between de facto FHHs (i.e., households managed by a woman whose husband is physically not present at home owing to work outside) and de jure FHHs (i.e., households managed by a single, widowed, or divorced woman). Contrary to the general hypothesis, this study did not find any significant difference in the food security status between MHHs and FHHs. Nevertheless, it found that food security is significantly lower among de jure FHHs than among MHHs. More surprising, considering the common belief, is that the food security difference between de facto FHHs and de jure FHHs is larger than the difference between de jure FHHs and MHHs. It is possible to explain these gaps between MHHs and de jure FHHs by unobserved heterogeneity effects but not by treatment effects, while both treatment effects (i.e., differences in returns to their assets, such as participation in off-farm income) and unobserved heterogeneity effects explain the differences between de facto and de jure FHHs. The results have important policy implications, primarily because they reject the general notion that FHHs are less food secure, and strongly recommend a deeper investigation into the heterogeneity among FHHs. This has a crucial implication for designing government policy related to two important Sustainable Development Goals—gender equality and food security. |
format |
Working Paper |
topic_facet |
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY GENDER FOOD SECURITY GENDER EQUALITY HOUSEHOLDS |
author |
Aryal, J.P. Rahut, D.B. Gartaula, H. |
author_facet |
Aryal, J.P. Rahut, D.B. Gartaula, H. |
author_sort |
Aryal, J.P. |
title |
Gendered Analysis of Food Security Gaps in Rural Nepal |
title_short |
Gendered Analysis of Food Security Gaps in Rural Nepal |
title_full |
Gendered Analysis of Food Security Gaps in Rural Nepal |
title_fullStr |
Gendered Analysis of Food Security Gaps in Rural Nepal |
title_full_unstemmed |
Gendered Analysis of Food Security Gaps in Rural Nepal |
title_sort |
gendered analysis of food security gaps in rural nepal |
publisher |
Asian Development Bank Institute |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10883/21952 |
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AT aryaljp genderedanalysisoffoodsecuritygapsinruralnepal AT rahutdb genderedanalysisoffoodsecuritygapsinruralnepal AT gartaulah genderedanalysisoffoodsecuritygapsinruralnepal |
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1756087052317753344 |