Muhammad Khalid Bashir

Determinants of rural household food security: a comparative analysis of African and Asian studies

This paper reviews the determinants of rural household food security in Africa and Asia where more than 88% of the worlds undernourished people live. A conceptual model is proposed on the basis of the three widely known components of food security: food availability, accessibility and utilisation. This model is used to select a total of 40 peer-reviewed studies carried out over the last decade (20 each from Africa and Asia). A meta-analysis technique is then used to identify which determinants of food security have been highlighted and how well the causality is demonstrated. Food availability is the most studied component in both regions, followed by food accessibility, while food utilisation is the most neglected component in these studies.

Impact of credit disbursed by commercial banks on the productivity of wheat in Faisalabad district

Purpose - The agriculture sector is the single largest contributor to the national income (gross domestic product – (GDP)) of Pakistan. Wheat is the main staple diet of the people of Pakistan. It contributes 13.7 percent to the value added in agriculture and 3.0 percent to GDP. Given its importance to the national economy, the government attaches high priority to raising agricultural productivity and farmers income. For this purpose, financing for agricultural sector is very much needed and important. Like other institutional sources, commercial banks also provide agricultural credit. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of credit disbursed by them on the productivity of wheat. Design/methodology/approach - Primary data were collected from 114 randomly selected respondents through a well-structured interview schedule. Cobb Douglous function was used to calculate the impact of credit on the productivity. Findings - The coefficient of credit was highly significant, which showed that credit has a positive impact on the productivity of wheat and hence is an important tool for improving the productivity of agriculture sector. Originality/value - The study in hand will be useful for the planners who are responsible for allocating funds for the agricultural sector in general and for wheat growers in particular. The recommendations of the study will go a long way to mitigating the problems being faced by the small farmers of Pakistan in securing institutional credit.

Institutional credit and rice productivity: a case study of District Lahore, Pakistan

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze how institutional credit affected the productivity of rice crop in District Lahore, Punjab Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach - For this purpose, stratified random sampling technique was adopted to select the sample respondents. The district was divided into three strata; from each stratum two villages were randomly selected and from each village ten loanee farmers were randomly selected from the given list of borrowers. An equal number of non-loanee farmers were also selected. Cobb Douglas function was used to calculate the impact of credit on rice productivity. Findings - The coefficient of credit was significant, which indicated that credit has a positive impact on the productivity of rice, providing a clue that credit is an important tool for improving and increasing the agricultural productivity in general and that of rice in particular. Originality/value - The paper will be an important addition to the literature in the current credit impact studies and will help especially the agricultural planners who are responsible for allocating funds for the agricultural sector in general and for the rice sector in particular. The papers recommendations will help mitigate the problems of the farming community, especially of the small farmers in securing the institutional credit.

Food security policy assessment in the Punjab, Pakistan: effectiveness, distortions and their perceptions

This study aims to assess the impact of short-term policies on smallholder farmers’ household food security. It answers three key questions: What is the impact of selected policies on farmers’ household food security? What would have been the impact of these policies if implemented perfectly? Are the perceived impacts of food security policies in line with their estimated impacts? For this purpose, a conceptual model is proposed using a partial equilibrium model approach. The model identifies policy impact pathways. Two demand side policies (food subsidy and minimum wage rate) and two supply side policies (wheat support price and urea subsidy) are assessed. Results show that one of each improves farmers’ household food security. Furthermore, these policies are poorly implemented and consequently their potential benefits are much reduced. The comparison of farmers’ perceptions and their estimated monetary gains shows notable divergence. This study suggests that more research is warranted into the potential of food security policies, as much of their effectiveness is lost due to poor implementation. It also suggests that, for the Punjab, policies emphasising wheat support prices better address food insecurity than urea subsidies.

How disaggregated should information be for a sound food security policy

This study aimed to answer the question whether disaggregating micro data on food security conditions yielded sufficient new information to improve food security policies. To answer this question, we proposed and implemented a conceptual model that comprised three successive levels of disaggregation. The model was implemented for the Punjab province of Pakistan for which primary data was collected from 1,152 rural households. To measure the food security status of households, the Dietary Intake Assessment (DIA) method was used. Furthermore, the determinants of food security were identified using a Logit Regression model. Comparing the results of this model suggested that disaggregation yields sufficient new information to warrant the extra effort. We found that food security of different household categories and micro-regions were statistically different from each other; moreover, household categories differed in their food security status even within regions. Basing potential policies on analysis of too aggregated data a level can lead to biased conclusions. An implication is that a blanket policy for ensuring rural household food security, as currently implemented in Pakistan, is not an efficient approach.

Status and determinants of small farming households' food security and role of market access in enhancing food security in rural Pakistan

In most of the developing countries, lack of resources and little market accessibility are among the major factors that affect small farming household food security. This study aims to investigate the status of small farming households’ food security, and its determinants including the role of market accessibility factors in enhancing food security at household level. In addition, this study also determines the households’ perception about different kinds of livelihoods risks. This study is based on a household survey of 576 households conducted through face-to-face interviews using structured interviews in Punjab, Pakistan. Food security status is calculated using dietary intake method. The study findings show that one-fourth of the households are food insecure. The study findings reveal that farm households perceive increase in food prices, crop diseases, lack of irrigation water and increase in health expenses as major livelihood risks. Further, the results of logistic regression show that family size, monthly income, food prices, health expenses and debt are main factors influencing the food security status of rural households. Furthermore, the market accessibility factors (road distance and transportation cost) do significantly affect the small farming household food security. The results suggest that local food security can be enhanced by creating off-farm employment opportunities, improved transportation facilities and road infrastructure.