Strategies for coping with household food insecurity in Chipinge District, Zimbabwe.

Abstract

This paper is a partial response to the problem of food insecurity in rural areas in Zimbabwe. As such, the study examined the strategies applied in coping with household food insecurity in the Chipinge District of Zimbabwe. Data was gathered through key informant interviews, focus group discussions and observations. Furthermore, the Coping Strategy Index was employed to evaluate the coping mechanisms adopted by 120 randomly sampled participants. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. The findings showed that intake of less favoured food was employed more than any other coping mechanism followed by intake of less food by the household head responsible for food preparation. These strategies were followed by decrease in the amount of food given to adults, withdrawal of meals, getting assistance from friends and relatives, remittances, maternal buffering, migration and sale of assets. These coping strategies ranged from insurance or reversible, irreversible to distress or “exhaustion” strategies. The adopted coping strategies were based on the severity of household food deficit, the choices offered by available household resource endowment and access to external interventions. This study recommends that household heads should have access to informal education through extension amenities with the view of improving the application of contemporary farming methods to increase production.