Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Augmenting food security through agricultural input subsidy: An evaluation of national agricultural input voucher scheme (NAIVS) with impact on female-headed households in Tanzania

Global Food Security and Sustainability Conference

September 05-07, 2016 Beijing, China

Kriti Malhotra

Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Food Process Technol

Abstract:

Agricultural input subsidies have often been promoted as the solution to target food insecurity. This paper aims to investigate the impact of the national agricultural input subsidy (NAIVS) on small-scale farmers in Tanzania particularly, for household food security, while investigating if the programme had any differential impact on female-headed households. On examining the general impact of the NAIVS on small-scale farmers, it is clear that the programme did affect food-security at the household level. Literacy also had a significant impact on household food-security and in terms of production. In terms of the specific impact of the programme on female-headed households, beneficiary female-headed households preferred spending more on education, birth control and family planning. They were also more food-secure and consumed more meals on an average, while the non-beneficiary households preferred spending more on food-suggesting a lack of food self-sufficiency. However, this cannot be attributed the input subsidy alone and needs further research. This paper aims to inform policy-making around agricultural input subsidies and its impacts on female headed households.

Biography :

Email: kritimalhotra2013@gmail.com