MILK AFFORDABILITY AS A PREDICTOR OF HOUSEHOLD FOOD INSECURITY AND NUTRITIONAL COPING STRATEGIES: EVIDENCE FROM A COMMUNITY-BASED SURVEY

Abstract

An increase in food prices has contributed to concerns about affordability of nutritious foods such as dairy foods. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the independent association of milk affordability with household food security and food coping strategies among 420 socioeconomically varied households. Analysis using binary logistic regression with income, education and household size as controls indicated that 54.8 percent of households decreased milk consumption as a result of the price increase, and more than half of the households were food insecure. At the same time, when socio-demographic covariates were accounted for in the analyses, milk was found to be an independent predictor of both food insecurity (OR=0.62, p<0.001) and nutritional coping behavior (OR=0.68, p=0.002). Finally, the price and affordability of dairy is not a preference, but a structural indicator of overall economic vulnerability of households and provides important guidance for the design of targeted dairy subsidies, price guarantees and nutrition-sensitive social protection policies.