Association Between Household Food Insecurity (Access) Scores, Poverty Indicators and Child Malnutrition in Botswana

ABSTRACT

In Botswana the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) has been used in studying the urban-poor, but less in rural settings high in poverty, child malnutrition (CM), and social protection beneficiaries. This cross-sectional study compared HFIAS scores, household poverty (HP) and CM in two rural districts: Bobirwa with moderate and Mabutsane with high poverty. Households (n = 872) with children under-five years participated. Most children (87.6%) experienced food insecurity. Mean HFIAS for all households was 11.0 ± 8. HFIAS scores were higher in Mabutsane (p < .001). HFIAS scores were consistently associated with HP and CM in both districts. HFIAS can assist in targeting the rural-poor.

KEYWORDS:

• Botswana
• food insecurity
• household food insecurity access scale

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Informed consent

Informed written consent was obtained from all individuals that participated in the study. In this study, caregivers and guardians consented from their children. Participants were apprised of confidentiality and use of data. Participants could withdraw from the study at any time.

Consent for publication

Participants were provided with information explaining use of data. The information indicated that responses would remain anonymous. Responses were reported as pooled data that could not be traced to individuals.

Additional information

Funding

This work was not supported by any grant funding.