Analysis of the determinants of food insecurity among agricultural households in Burkina Faso

This paper investigates the determinants of food insecurity among agricultural households in Burkina Faso. We use balanced panel data of 232 agricultural households over the period 2014–2016. We measure households’ food security using food consumption scores. The results of the logit model estimations show that high dependency ratio and low educational attainment of the household head are the main factors that increase the probability of household being food insecure. Also, households headed by the elderly (70 years and older) are more likely to be food insecure. In contrast, household income and social capital contribute to reducing the likelihood of being food insecure. These results suggest that a particular emphasis should be placed on strengthening the capacity of household heads by designing specific training programs that meet their needs, strengthening their social capital and reducing the number of inactive persons to reduce food insecurity in agricultural households in Burkina Faso.