Household food security in a changing economic environment
Cabanilla, L.S. (Philippines Univ. Los Banos, College, Laguna (Philippines). Coll. of Public Affairs)
The profound change in domestic economic environment brought about largely by the trend of globalization is expected to affect households in many ways. Through a mechanism that works through market and non-market institutions, households either benefit or suffer from changes in economic environment. This paper described in general terms this impact, specifically focusing on household food security - here interpreted as the ability to access affordable food at all times. The analysis is broad and based on the argument propounded in the literature that food insecurity is poverty-related. Using panel data from two Laguna villages [Philippines], the main (although implicit) objective of the paper is to advocate for a reorientation of the national food security program of the country. It has the following propositions: a) food production is not a sufficient condition to achieve food security at the household level; and b.) domestic food production should only be pursued up to a point where the marginal returns to domestic resources used in food production are equal to other activities. The paper has shown that indeed food producing households are no more food secure than the non-food producing households. Data were insufficient to support the second proposition but it continues to rest on solid economic argument
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