Development of multidimensional food security index for Rajasthan, India: A district-level analysis

ABSTRACT

The present study tries to analyze the status of food security and its various components, such as food availability, accessibility, stability, and utilization with the help of a multidimensional index across districts in Rajasthan, India, based on an indicator approach. The results confirm that there is a wide range of inequalities in terms of food security across districts. The Jaipur was found to be the most food-secure in Rajasthan due to relatively higher food accessibility. Conversely, lower food availability and accessibility contributed to the lowest food security in Banswara. Hence, study recommends: (i) diversification from farm to nonfarm activities; (ii) sufficient storage capacity to control price fluctuations throughout the year; (iii) promotion of water management and conservation technologies; (iv) regulation and replenishment of groundwater in rural areas for augmenting cropping intensity; (v) district-specific policies to arrest food insecurity; and (vi) strengthening the coverage of the rural employment program, i.e. MGNREGA.

KEYWORDS:

• Food security
• access
• stability
• indicators
• min-max method

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).