Abstract:
Food insecurity is still prevalent in many parts of the world. Despite several research attempts
to alleviate food insecurity in Kenya, estimates indicate that approximately 50% of Kenyans
are food insecure with 10% in constant need of food relief. One of the causes of food
insecurity as it has been reported by other scholars is gender inequality. Women, especially in
developing countries have been reported to significantly contribute to food production
compared to men while in decision making they are often subordinate to men. However, the
role of intra-household decision making in influencing food security remains unclear. This
study therefore sought to examine the implication of intra-household decision making on
household food security among the smallholder farmers in Chepalungu constituency, Bomet
County Kenya. Multistage sampling method was used to obtain a sample of 150 smallholder
farmer households. Structured questionnaires and interviews were used to obtain the
information. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, Logit and Poisson models
with the use of SPSS and STATA computer programs. The results indicated that majority
(52.7%) of the households were food insecure signifying high level of food shortages in the
area. Male headed households were found to be food insecure as compared to their female
counterparts. The logistic regression results revealed that age, gender, land size, household
size, years of education and income significantly influenced household food security. The
results also revealed the probability of household being food secure is high when
consumption decisions are made by women than when they are made by men. The study
proves that intra-household decision making has an important role to play in influencing
household food security. Therefore, gender based resource allocation and women
empowerment policies should be encouraged in order to ensure that households are food
secure.
