Determinants of rural household food security in Indonesia: the case of protein-based food consumption

A large number of households in Indonesia, especially those in rural areas, still depend on the agricultural sector. In order to meet their food needs, including protein-sourced food, rural households both produced and purchased their food consumption. This study aimed to analyze whether the consumption of certain self-produced protein-based food, namely, beans, tofu and tempeh, meat, poultry, fish, and milk, contributes to the food security of rural households in Indonesia. Using data from the fourth- and fifth-wave Indonesian Family Life Surveys in 2007 and 2014, the study applied the Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) model to examine the determinants of protein-based food demand. The results reveal that rural households consume more plant-sourced protein than animal-sourced protein. It is also shown that the socio-demographic characteristic of the household such as household structure, the education and age of the household head affect differently on type of protein-based food consumption. These results suggest that self-produced food can be seen as a strategy for rural households to meet their protein-based food consumption. Self-produced food households also tend to be more food secure than the counterpart households.