Food security and human development

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of food security and human development inter-relationships for a sample of low-income countries. Design/methodology/approach - The analytical procedure involves the estimation of a reduced form equation utilising cross-country data that relates human development to food security indicators. Findings - Empirical results confirm a positive correlation between food availability, calories and protein supply and human development. Food accessibility, measured by food prices and vulnerability are found to be negatively correlated with human development. Practical implications - The implication of the findings is that poor countries should increase efforts to enhance agricultural production through an operational emphasis on farmers at a risk of food insecurity - especially low-income small holders and women farmers. Originality/value - The paper examines the effect of food security on human well being.