Comparative analysis of constraints to food security along the urban-rural continuum of mid-sized towns in Tanzania

Abstract

This study on which this article is based assessed the varying constraints to food security along the urban-rural continuum in Morogoro and Iringa, Tanzania. A cross-sectional survey of 279 randomly selected households was conducted using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Both descriptive and inferential analysis approaches were applied to assess the status of and the varying constraints to food security among the surveyed households. The results show great variations in constraints to household food security along the continuum. Households located in urban and periurban areas had more food security than the households situated in rural settings. Food security among urban and peri-urban households was greatly constrained by low income, higher food prices, and expenditure on non-food items whereas household food security in rural settings was mainly affected by limited market access, shortage of farm labour, lack of access to agricultural inputs, drought, and soil infertility. Since constraints to household food security vary greatly along the urban-rural continuum, interventions to improve food security should adequately address these variations.