Print | Back

Skip to Content

Support functions

Publications

Table of contents

Differences in Food Insecurity between Girls and Boys: Evidence from Zimbabwe

Using data from a 2004 household-based survey of children, we examine differences between boys and girls in self reports of food insecurity in Zimbabwe. Previous studies have taken only the views of the household head into consideration in categorizing the food insecurity status of the household. By so doing, the possibilities of differential experiences of food insecurity by individual household members were ignored. Results show no gender differences in food insecurity for the children surveyed across all three measures of food insecurity utilized in this paper. Probit and ordered probit regressions were also carried out to further investigate if any differences existed after controlling for other factors. While gender still did not matter, there was some evidence that age did, in addition to other household characteristics. In particular, children in wealthier households were less likely to report food insecurity.
Publisher:
UNU-WIDER
Series:
WIDER Research Paper
Volume:
2007/53
Title:
Differences in Food Insecurity between Girls and Boys: Evidence from Zimbabwe
Authors:
Craig Gundersen, Yemisi Kuku, and Thomas Kelly
Publication date:
September 2007
ISSN Web:
1810-2611
ISBN Web:
929190988X
ISBN 13 Web:
9789291909988
Copyright holder:
© UNU-WIDER
Copyright year:
2007
Keywords:
food insecurity, gender, orphans, HIV/AIDS, poverty, Africa, Zimbabwe
JEL:
I32, O15, O55
Project:
Gender and Food Security
Sponsor:
UNU-WIDER gratefully acknowledges, in particular, the project support provided by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the financial contributions to the overall research programme by the governments of Denmark (Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Norway (Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Sweden (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency – Sida) and the United Kingdom (Department for International Development). Special thanks go to the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta (CSSSC), India, and UNU-Institute for Natural Resources in Africa, Accra, Ghana, for providing logistical support to the project meetings.
Format:
online