Demographic and Socio-economic Determinants of Household Food Insecurity in Botswana

Botswana struggles with persistent high levels of food insecurity despite experiencing rapid economic growth in previous years. This paper investigates demographic and socio-economic determinants of household food insecurity using a national representative sample of Botswana. Proxying food insecurity using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale by FAO, a logit regression is applied to identify the demographic and socio-economic determinants of household food insecurity in Botswana. The study shows that of the 7477 households in the sample, 63.80% are food secure, while 36% are food insecure. The study finds the following head of household attributes to be negatively associated with food insecurity: marital status, education, and employment status, while the head of household gender shows a positive association. In addition, the following household characteristics also indicate a negative relationship with household food insecurity, livestock ownership, cooking fuel type and household dwelling ownership, whereas household size shows a positive relationship. The paper observes district disparities concerning household food insecurity. To improve household food insecurity outcomes in the country, the paper proposes housing aid and initiatives that tackle unemployment to increase the household disposable income, which emerges in this study as a factor affecting food insecurity in Botswana.