Prevalence of food insecurity in the urban slums of delhi, India- its associations and community coping mechanisms

Present research was conducted to measure household food insecurity (HFI) status among slum-dwellers, the factors associated with it and assessed coping strategies adopted to mitigate effects of HFI. 446 households were selected from four-slums of Delhi. Information was collected using interview-schedule which included modified versions of: 18-item household food-security scale, National Family Health Survey-3 and coping strategy index. Adult women were the respondents. Fifty-one percent households were found food insecure with 27.6% having low food insecurity and 23.5% having very low food insecurity. Years of stay in slum, rented/owned accommodation, income, monthly-per-capita-expenditure on food, family type, availability and color of ration card, and having bank account were found significantly associated with HFI (p<0.05). Wealth index (r=0.6, p<0.01) and ratio of people-employed-to-family-size (r=0.26, p<0.05) were found to be positively correlated with food security. Few positive strategies adopted by food insecure families to reduce hunger were buying cheap and locally available food (73.8%), using food reserves (34%), reliance on government-aid (26.2%), purchasing food on credit (29%), eating at religious places (28%), and starting part-time work along-with regular work (31%). These practices were significantly associated with HFI (p<0.001). Positive correlation was found between number of coping strategies used and HFI (r=0.57, p<0.001). Research can thus conclude that HFI is a problem in urban India. Understanding the associations that contribute to HFI is imperative so that effective strategies could be developed and implemented. The study captures behaviors faced by food-insecure households which may help in formation of baseline for developing an effective community-based program.