Investigation of Food Security Status Using Diet Diversity Index: A Case Study of Rural Areas, Marvdasht County in Fars Province of Iran

Authors

1 MSc Graduate in Agricultural Economics at Gorgan University of Agricultural Science and Natural Resource, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor at Fars Center for Research of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources, Shiraz, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Gorgan University of Agricultural Science and Natural Resource, Gorgan, Iran

Abstract

Ensuring the food security is one of the main policies in Iran and it follows access to sufficient and safe nutrition. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the food security status in rural community by using Diet Diversity Index (DDI). For this purpose, Antropy and Berry indexes were used. This study was carried out in rural areas of Marvdasht County in Fars province of Iran in 2012. Data were collected by survey study. Sample households were selected by triple cluster sampling method. The households completed a questionnaire about their daily food consumption for one week. The study results showed the highest diversity in calorie access and the lowest diversity in fat access as well as no considerable differences between pattern and the diet diversity among rural households in various income groups; in addition, all households experienced a relative food security in terms of the food access and the diet diversity. 

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