Obstacles Hindering Viability of Coping Options in Arid Regions

Studies on factors that inhibit sustainability of coping strategies in the arid regions were reviewed in this current study. The major challenge of food scarcity in Sub-Saharan Africa lies in its underdeveloped agricultural sector (Hanyani-Mlambo et al., 2002). The farming sector is affected by over reliance on primary production systems (Tshediso, 2013; WFP, 2011), soil infertility (Mango et al., 2014), trifling utilization of external farm inputs (Scoones, 1996; Barrett, 2010), nominal value addition (Ellis, 2000; Kolmar & Gamper, 2012), product differentiation (Kahsay & Mulugeta, 2014) and commodity price fluctuations (Maxwell, 1996; Mango et al., 2014). Scoones (1996) posits that there is a general waning in farming investment, including fertilizer and seed use and technology adoption. Exorbitant prices prevent use of fertilizer and chemicals with negative effects on household food security (WFP, 2010; Fahmida et al., 2017;

Peng et al., 2017). Without access to appropriate technology and inputs, households find it

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difficult to increase crop production. This situation makes household food deficit inevitable in dry areas.

The UN (2011) estimates that nearly three quarters of families living in poverty zones reside in the countryside. These areas lack extension services (WFP, 2010; Grobber, 2014), processing capability, roads, credit (Mengistu & Haji; 2015; Lawson et al., 2017), transportation infrastructure (Ellis, 2000; Ehebhamen et al., 2017), power and storage structures (Birara et al., 2015; Carmody, 2016). Furthermore, in a number of comparable studies (ZimVAC, 2014b;

Wabwoba et al., 2016) inadequate incomes is considered one of the factors that hinder viability of coping strategies in the Sub-Saharan Africa. The building of resilience communities should devise ways that ensure that households participate in income raising projects.

Ivolga (2014) posits that nutrition shortage is not simply a subject of insufficient food; but it is also related to food access. In the 1980‟s, Zimbabwe exported food worth millions of tons of grain, but over 11 % of people were undernourished (Ndiweni, 2015). Thus, it is currently not clear whether increasing agricultural production ensure food access, availability and utilization.

Within the hunger-production nexus, the influence of food access, availability and poverty is not clarified adequately.

Furthermore, institutions play a central role in facilitating access and utilization of food. Ahmed et al. (2015) and Selepe et al (2015) posit that institutions put mechanisms in place to reduce the barriers to trade. However, it is critical to note that misdirected policies have negative ramifications on households‟ access to food items. For instance, studies show that the projected gains of liberalization were shared disproportionately between the rich and the poor in emerging nations (Maude & James, 2010; Birara et al., 2015). Faced by such a situation, Ivolga, (2014) raises a contentious issue that perhaps it is time that rural communities produce food to feed people in rural areas and increase their „periphery to periphery‟ trading and consolidate their efforts on comparative advantage for shared benefits.

Oyebanjo et al. (2015) suggests that insufficient resources have been channelled towards the understanding of the factors which inhibit the adoption of sustainable coping strategies.

Grounded on available literature, household food insecurity and survival strategies in Chipinge remain ineffectively implicit. The limited researches conducted do not expose comprehensive information on the understanding of this matter (Maude & James, 2010; Nyikahadzoi et al., 2014). Therefore, this research proposes to contribute critical information on coping strategies devised to address household food shortfall.

37 2.9 Measuring Household Food Deficit

Altiman et al. (2009) posit that food deficit is a multi-dimensional issue. There is no good standard or exclusive method of measuring food deficit (Bashir et al., 2012; FAO et al., 2014).

Each technique and tool has diverse advantages and flaws. It is thus, vital to be conscious of the advantages and disadvantages in order to select the most suitable technique or a mixture of tools and techniques appropriate in assessing household food deficit. Gathering data for a thorough examination of food deficit prove to be an unbearable task in circumstances where family arrangement is variable (Maxwell, 1996; FAO, 2011). Furthermore, Radimer et al. (1990;

1992; Anderson & Cook, 1999) also posit that household food deficit is also difficult to measure where the notion of a family is predisposed to changing meaning and construal.

Numerous techniques have been utilised to assess food deficit from nationwide food stability sheets (Radimer et al., 1992; Maxwell, 2011), family level measures (Radimer et al., 1990;

1992; Maxwell, 1996) to anthropometric measurement (FAO, 2011). UN (2011) equates four result pointers of food security, that is, an index of household coping strategies, individual food consumption, family energy procurement, and nutritional diversity through contingency tables, regression prediction and correlations models. Table 2.3 illustrates contrasts between the numerous techniques used to assess food shortfall.

Maxwell (2011) states the fundamental reasons for measuring household food deficit.

Household food shortfall is measured in order to: distinguish between food insecure and secure households; to enable cheap and efficient targeting of development resources and aid; avoid the security condition from worsening further after a shock; and design and implement nutrition and food security protection or enhancement programmes that are appropriate to the needs and requirements of the targeted households.

2.9.1 Context of assessing household food deficit

The complication of investigating food deficit does not arise merely from its setting, but it also stems from the scale and level of assessment. Though assessments were initially done at the community or national scale, recent assessments are being done at the individual and household levels. The main reason for this change in attention is that there are numerous aspects, at all levels, which affect a household or an individual‟s capacity to access adequate diet. These factors include market failure, income, policy, and environmental issues. For these reasons, this study assessed the coping strategies adopted by people at the household level.

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2.9.2 Rationale for assessing coping strategies at the household level

Maxwell (1999) posits that household-level assessment of food deficit concentrate on deficit dynamics within and among families. These strategies depend on data from surveys; they gather more precisely access element of nutrition deficit than do methods that depend on countrywide combined information. Food access denotes economic and physical availability of diet; although, several methods utilised to measure food access really measure food consumption and acquisition (Bashir et al., 2012; Irohibe & Agwu, 2014). Again, the advantage of computing household food deficit at the family level arise from the fact that families at diverse stages of food deficit are influenced inversely, and therefore, respond differently to covariant threats. It is recognised that families are vital agents to consider when clarifying livelihood concerns and when developing the analyses of precise food deficit challenges. It is presumed that the choice making process on household socio-economic problems (i.e. household food insecurity) in emerging nations is less a separate inquiry than a procedure whereby family members discuss on a combined approach.