Does participation in livelihood education programs impact household food security? A comparative study in rural Uganda

Food and nutrition security projections from global to household levels show that the future requires multifaceted approaches to achieve desired goals. In Uganda, the government has tried several strate­gies to promote food production, including a public-private partnership with Iowa State Univer­sity through its Center for Sustainable Rural Liveli­hoods. In this comparative study, we surveyed 454 households to explore whether participation in livelihood education programs (LEPs) impact household food security. We also determine which LEPs and household characteristics influence food security. Overall, 46.3% of the surveyed house­holds were food secure, while the remaining were insecure or extremely insecure. Significantly, 51.0% of LEP participants were more food secure, com­pared to 35.5% of nonparticipants. Specific LEPs including agronomy and postharvest technologies, and livestock integration significantly influence food security, but less so for programs on nutrition and infant feeding, water supply and public health, complementary services like therapeutic porridge and assistance with immunization, and income innovations. Multinomial logistic regression analy­sis revealed that the household characteristics of keeping livestock and the number of meals eaten during periods of scarcity, influenced households having more food security than insecurity or extreme insecurity. Households participating in LEPs, having larger acreage of land, and having clean water and sanitation facilities were more food secure. The time taken to fetch water, days of ill­ness of male adults, and belonging to community social groups, also influence the level of household food security. Based on these findings, we recom­mend that households should participate in LEPs to build their capacity to manage crop and live­stock production, and also to acquire knowledge of nutrition and feeding, public health, and income innovations.