ASSESSING DIMENSIONS OF FOOD SECURITY FOR FARM HOUSEHOLDS UNDER DIFFERENT LAND USE PATTERNS IN BANGLADESH

Dimensions of food security at household level are availability of adequate food and, access to and utilization of food. The present study was conducted to assess the dimensions of food security for farm households under different land use patterns in Bangladesh. Fourteen land use patterns which are largely practiced by the farmers were selected for the present study. In total, 730 farm households were selected from 50 villages of 18 Upazilas under 8 districts of Bangladesh. Four categories of farmers such as marginal, small, medium and large farmers who were largely involved in the present land use patterns were selected for the present study. The data and information so collected were converted into descriptive statistics such as arithmetic means, percentages and ratio. Regarding food availability all categories of farmers under the selected land use patterns were more or less self-sufficient in cereals, but they had tremendous shortages in other crops like potato, vegetables, pulses, oilseeds (mustard) and fish. The present study also assessed per capita food intake and nutritional status of different categories of farm households. The food consumption for overall land use patterns was i observed to be 1182 grams. Per capita calorie intake was relatively higher (2620-2645 kcal) for the farm households practicing alternate shrimp (golda) and rice farming, alternate rice and wheat production and alternate rice and maize production. Considering all selected land use patterns, per capita per day protein intake was 63.84 grams which was slightly higher than the national average (62.52).