Socio-Economic Determinants of Women's Food Insecurity: A Case Study of Majhardiar Island, Rajshahi District, Bangladesh

Abstract

Food insecurity remains a pressing challenge in rural Bangladesh. Particularly, women who reside in geographically isolated and climatically vulnerable island (riverine island) areas. Despite evidence on the socio-economic dimensions of food insecurity at the national and rural level, empirical studies focusing on women's food insecurity in island regions remain limited. This study aims to identify the socio-economic determinants of women's food insecurity in Majhardiar Island, Rajshahi District, Bangladesh. A cross-sectional household survey was conducted with 100 women selected through a simple random sampling technique. Food insecurity was measured using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). A Probit regression model with average marginal effects was employed to identify significant determinants of women's food insecurity. Approximately 92% of surveyed women were classified as food insecure. The Probit model revealed that age, education, household income, and land ownership significantly reduced the probability of food insecurity. In contrast, staple food production and flood exposure significantly increased it. Marginal effects indicated that land ownership reduced the probability of food insecurity by 62.9 percentage points, and flood exposure increased it by 67.3 percentage points. Targeted policy interventions are urgently needed, focusing on education, income generation, land access, and flood-disaster risk reduction to improve food security for women in these marginalised communities.