Abstract

SERRANO-OJEDA, María L. et al. Structural and productive characteristics of households with different degree of food security in Puebla. agric. soc. desarro [online]. 2016, vol.13, n.4, pp.547-563. ISSN 1870-5472.

The methods used to measure food security are a fundamental part of evaluating and monitoring nutritional interventions; in the household scope, these should include several factors due to their high complexity. The objective of the study was to characterize the households according to their degree of food security, measured through the methodology from the National Evaluation Council (Consejo Nacional de Evaluación, CONEVAL), and adding to it the structural and productive characteristics. To understand the productive characteristics and available resources, a questionnaire was applied to 120 households in five localities of three municipalities in the state of Puebla. The results showed that only 44 % of the households have food security and 56 % presented some degree of insecurity. The variables of backyard surface and monthly income turned out to be the ones with greatest variance; the number of inhabitants and children (0 to 6 years) in the households showed a significant difference. The main species cultivated were maize, bean, chili, cilantro, tomato, lime and chamomile; hens and turkeys were the animals of greatest presence. The households with food security reported the highest amount of productive resources; those of moderate food insecurity, those of highest scarcity, and those of severe food insecurity showed the greatest surface and diversity in backyards. The study region is considered diverse and insecure in terms of food, which is reflected in the levels of quantity and quality of the diet, causing preoccupation over access to food. The methodology used by CONEVAL does not allow reflecting the amount of productive resources according to the degree of food security.

Keywords : characterization; rural households; food insecurity; backyard; resources.

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