Investigating the Effect of Rural Women’s Entrepreneurship on Households’ Sustainable Food Security (Case Study: Khorramabad Township)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of various types of entrepreneurial activities of rural women on the sustainable food security of their households in Khorramabad township. The statistical population of the present study was rural women entrepreneurs in Khorramabad township (N = 395) who were selected as a sample using Jrejcie and Morgan table (n=190) and three-stage cluster sampling method. The main data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The results showed that the food security situation of households is not in a favorable condition (2.59). The results of the Kruskal-Wallis test showed that in terms of sustainable food security, there is a significant difference in the types of entrepreneurial activities of rural women in terms of consumption and access dimensions (P <0.05). In addition, the results of the LSD post hoc test in the access dimension showed that the handicrafts group is significantly (P < 0.05) different from the processing industries and agricultural products group and entrepreneurial households engaged in agricultural products and conversion industries are in a better position than entrepreneurial households engaged in handicrafts. In terms of consumption, entrepreneurial households engaged in processing industries are in a better position than the agricultural production group. Therefore, based on the obtained results, suggestions such as providing financial credits by policy-makers, diversification of entrepreneurial activities based on agricultural products and food processing, and holding training workshops for women entrepreneurs working in the conversion industry with the aim of providing and maintaining food processing and packaging, safety and health are provided.

Keywords

• rural women
• rural entrepreneurship
• food security
• sustainable development
• khorramabad township