1. No category

KIVUKONI JOURNAL VOL. 1 No. 2, 2013: 31-51
Food insecurity and Reproductive Health Problem
among Rural Women in, Tanzania
Mbwambo, J.S4 and Parit L.S5 and Masawe, G.S4
ABSTRACT
Food insecurity is a global challenge to rural women especially in sub-Saharan
Africa. In solving the problem involvement of women is inevitable as they play
a pivotal role in food production. Unfortunately rural women remain victims
of reproductive health problems and poverty. The purpose of this paper is to
document on the linkage of household food security and reproductive health
among rural women. Descriptive and content functional analysis indicates that
majority of the population marries and bears their first child at an early age of
20 years. Furthermore there exists a positive correlation between the months the
household is food secured and age at marriage, number of children born and
children delivered at home. Frequency pregnancy is influenced by a number of
factors like low use of contraceptives, early marriage and early child bearing due
to traditional practice like prearranged marriage and exposure to sex at tender
age known as Kikulenge among Wazaramo and Wakutu. The study among other
things recommends for critical analysis of factors contributing to early marriage
and early child bearing for improvement of women reproductive health and
household food security in the study area.
Key words: Food insecurity, Reproductive Health, Households, Rural areas,
Early Marriage, Birth, Fertility
Development Studies Institute, Sokoine University Agriculture.
Department of Social Studies, The Mwalimu Nyerere memorial Academy
4
5
31
Mbwambo, J.S and Parit L.S and Masawe, G.S
BACKGROUND
Food insecurity is currently a major concern of about 800 Million people in
developing countries (IFPRI, 2002). The challenge of meeting their nutritional
needs is likely to become greater in the years ahead. While a number of interventions
have been employed to work out the challenge, it is becoming increasingly clear
that the solution to sustainable food security lies on interventions that involve
women. Women produce more than half of the food grown in developing
countries. For example women farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa account for 70 to
80 percent of the household food production, 65 percent in Asia and 45 percent
in Latin America (Gittinger, 1990; Saitio, 1994, Quisumbing et al., 1995 and
FAO, 2008). They manage some two-thirds of marketing and at least one half
the activities required for storing food and raising animals (Gittinger, 1990;
Saitio, 1994). In addition, they are now cultivating crops and taking on tasks
traditionally undertaken by men. They are increasingly making decisions on the
daily management of farms and households.
Women are also responsible for the feeding, nutrition and health of hundreds of
millions of families. With few exceptions, they fulfils these multiple jobs with
little or no access to productivity-enhancing resources and services such as credit,
education, training, technical assistance, marketing networks and health care. A
study on credit use in five African countries found that women received less than
10 percent of the credit awarded to male smallholders. In addition, only 15 percent
of the world’s agricultural extension agents are women (FAO, 2000).
Despite their important role in food production women are vulnerable to problems
associated with poverty and reproductive health. Women compose the poorest
segment of rural populations and make up more than 70 percent of all people
living in absolute poverty (World Bank, 2010). Despite this widespread poverty,
women are severely affected by rampant reproductive health including; sexually
transmitted diseases, HIV and AIDS, family planning related problems, maternal
health to name just a few. While we strive to work out the problem of food insecurity,
it is becoming increasingly clear that involvement of women is inevitable since
they play a pivotal role of food production in many developing countries including
Tanzania. Despite their contribution to food production, women in rural areas
are facing a significant number of problems including reproductive health and
poverty. Studies by Filmer and Pritchett (2001) and Gwatkin and Rutstein (2004)
indicate worse reproductive health problem outcomes among poor women, little
is documented on its linkage to household food security among rural women.
While these problems are known to affect women overall performance, their
influence on food security is not clearly established in most part of Tanzania and
the study area in particular.
32
Food insecurity and Reproductive Health Problem among Rural Women in, Tanzania
Although, much research exists on food security (for example Maxiwell, Swift
and Buchana-Smith, 1990; Maxiwell, 1991; Hoddinot and Johanness, 2001 and
Jallow, 2004) and on reproductive health (e.g. Saito, 1994, World Bank, 1995 and
Snyder, Berry and Mavima, 1996) as separate issues, researchers have paid little
attention to the relationship between the two. Past research, partly because of the
non-intersecting nature of respective disciplinary focuses, addresses each of these
areas separately but does not adequately address the influence of reproductive
health on household food security. Therefore, this study sought to document
different reproductive health problems and their influence on household food
security using Mvomero and Morogoro Rural districts as a case study.
The conceptual framework in Figure 1 demonstrates the linkages between
women’s productive and reproductive roles. At the core of these linkages is
the overall quality of life, which has a mutually reinforcing relationship with
the interplay between women’s productive and reproductive roles. Women’s
productive roles are summarized in the Household Food Security box while their
reproductive roles are captured in the Women’s Reproductive Health box
HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY
WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE
HEALTH
 Fertility and family planning
 Mother and child mortality
Fertility and family planning
 MCH
services
Mother and child mortality
 Infertility
MCH services
Infertility
Availability of Medical facilities and
personnel

Availability of Medical facilities and
Access to medical facilities
personnel
Reproductive Health care decision

Access
to medical
facilities
making
for men and
women

Reproductive
Health
care decision
Individual socio-economic
and
making
for menstatus
and women
demographic
Attitudesocio-economic
towards Reproductive

Individual
and
health services
among women
demographic
status
Quality of life
Quality of
life
 Months of food security
 Production
HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY
 Income
 Preparation
Months of food security
Production
 Access
and allocation
Income
 Utilization
Preparation

Poverty
Access and allocation

Food Security
Utilization

Education
Poverty

Agriculture and food

RHFood
techniques
Security
security policies
Agriculture
and food

Health
facilities
Education
security
policies

Economic
factors
RH techniques

Policy
and governance
Economic
factors

Social-cultural
Health facilities
Policy and
governance
Social-cultural

Attitude towards Reproductive health
services among women
Figure 1: The conceptual framework
These two interconnected functions of women affect each other, while at the same
time they influence (and are, in turn, influenced by) the overall quality of life of
women and their families. In addition, certain externalities relating to physical,
political, and socio-cultural environments in which women live influence their
productive and reproductive roles. Using capability approach proposed by Sen
(1999) poverty and especially income/consumption poverty, which may lead to
lower nutrition and therefore poor reproductive health, is instrumental in reducing
33
Mbwambo, J.S and Parit L.S and Masawe, G.S
women and household ability to produce food. The purpose of the study was to
analyse food insecurity as an outcome of women reproductive health problems.
Specifically the study sought to; document the main reproductive health problems
among rural women in the study area; examine factors responsible for rural
women’s reproductive health in the study area; determine the role of women in
household food security in the study area; and determine the extent to which
women’s reproductive health problems affect household food security in the
study area.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was conducted in two rural districts, Morogoro Rural and Mvomero
districts which were selected based on food insecurity and reproductive health
problems as documented by regional health office. From each district, three
villages were selected based on stratified sampling procedure. At the first stage,
households from the village roster were divided into 3 strata based on their wealth
categories defined using local indicators. Three groups; namely rich, moderate
and poor were identified. Then random selection of the households from each
stratum was done.
This study was carried out in a participatory manner with all stakeholders involved
at all stages. The first stage of data collection involved reconnaissance survey
to build awareness and rapport with local officials. While in the second stage a
Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods were employed during. Based on
interactive learning, shared knowledge and structured analysis (Chamber 2008)
PRA helped in building rapid assessment of issues on the ground. It also helped to
build an information base for the detailed study. Selected PRA methods included
Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and collection of life histories. Other PRA
methods were Observation and in-depth interviews with key informants which
were done to determine the score of household food security coping strategies.
Questionnaire survey was done during the third stage of data collection using both
structured and open-ended questionnaire which were administered to randomly
selected households.
The score of household food security copping strategies is an index based on the
manner in which households adapt to the presence or threat of food shortages. The
person who has primary responsibility for preparing and serving meals within the
household is asked a series of questions regarding how households are responding
to food shortages. This method was first developed by Radimer et al. (2004) and
later adopted by Maxwell and Frankenberger (1992) and Maxwell (1996). In this
case the most knowledgeable person in the household regarding food preparation
and distribution is asked a series of questions.
34
Food insecurity and Reproductive Health Problem among Rural Women in, Tanzania
In this method, the frequency of use of a particular strategy is recorded as “often”,
“from time to time”, “rarely” and “never”. Later the information is quantified
such that, “often” is counted as 4, “from time to time” is counted as 3, “rarely” is
counted as 2, and “never” is counted as 1. Finally, a weighted sum of household
food security coping strategies (reflecting the frequency of use by the household)
was calculated. The calculated weighted sum forms an individual household food
security coping strategy index. The higher the sum, the more food insecure the
household is and vice versa.
Content and structural-functional analysis techniques were used to analyse
qualitative data in which components of verbal discussions, FGDs and other PRA
tools were broken down into smallest meaningful units of information or themes
and tendencies. Structural-functional analysis sought to explain social facts by
the way in which they relate to each other within the social system and by the
manner in which they relate to the physical surroundings. This type of analysis
helped to distinguish between manifest and latent functions. Manifest functions
are those consequences which are intended and recognized by the actors in a
system while Latent functions are those consequences which are neither intended
nor recognized (Thomlinson, (1965). Quantitative analysis involving measures of
central tendency, dispersion and inferential statistics (regression analysis, where
appropriate) were done using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS)
and STATA computer software. In this analysis, attention was based on specific
objectives to interpret and capture analytical meaning of variables under the study.
Multiple regression analysis was used to test the extent to which women
reproductive health problems influence household food security. In this analysis,
the relationship between household food security as a dependent variable and
reproductive health variables such as years of education, age, availability of health
centres, age at first marriage and age at first child were used in the regression
model. Other variables included in the model were use of contraceptives, marital
status, income and education. The regression model followed the following
equation:
Y = a + b1 x1 + b2 x 2 + b3 x3. .................bn x n + e
Where;
Y =
=
a
b1− n =
Number of Months households are food secure
Constant or intercept
is the Slope (Beta coefficient) for x1-n
x -n = Independent variables
1
Data in Table 1 gives detailed account of the variables for the proposed regression
model.
35
Mbwambo, J.S and Parit L.S and Masawe, G.S
Table 1: Variable definition and indicators
Variable
Variable Name
Indicators
Dependent
variable
Household food
security
1. Age
Number of months households are food
secure
Years
Independent
variables
2. Marital status
Dummy variable
[1= Married 0 = everything else;
1= single 0 = everything else;
1= divorced/separated 0 = everything else
3. H o u s e h o l d Total number of household members working
on farm
labour
4. Education
Years of education
5. Fertility
Total number of children
6. M e d i c a l Distance (hours spent) to the nearby health
centre
facilities
7. Age at marriage
Number of years at first marriage
8. Home delivery
Number of children born at home
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Demographic and Socioeconomic profile of the respondents
Age of the Respondents
Age is an important variable because it determines various inter-households and
intra-household characteristics including household decision making, control
and ownership of asset and the overall reproductive health of an individual. A
two sample t-test shows significant differences (t-value 3.139, sig. Value 0.003 at
p<0.05) in the average age across villages. The mean age for the study population
is 49.96 years with the maximum and minimum age being 17 and 85, respectively.
Data in Table 2a shows that nearly 42 percent of the population is above 55 years
of age. This shows that information collected in this study is relevant as it was
solicited from people who are informed of reproductive and food security matters.
36
Food insecurity and Reproductive Health Problem among Rural Women in, Tanzania
Table 2: Demographic and Socioeconomic profile of the respondents
a: Age of respondents in years
Percent
Total
Above 55
36-55
21-35
20
b: Sex of the Respondents in selected villages
Male
14 (51.7%)
41.67
28.89
23.89
5.56
Female
17 (48.3)
100.00
10.0
6.67
32.78
2.22
51.67
11.67
8.33
21.67
6.67
48.33
21.67
15.00
54.45
8.89
100.00
N/a
N/a
N/a
N/a
N/a
N/a
N/a
N/a
N/a
N/a
16.1
18.9
52.2
7.8
5.0
100.0
c: Sex and Marital status of the population
Marital status
Widowed
Separated
Married
Single
Total
d: Education level of the respondents
Non-formal
STD IV
STD VII
Secondary
Others
Total
Sex and Marital Status of the respondents
The study intended to seek opinion from both male and female over issues related
to household food security and reproductive health. This was important because
households food security, agricultural practices and reproductive health matters
are determined by different decisions and roles played by both men and women in
a given society. Table 2b shows that nearly 52 percent of the respondents were men
followed by women who were more than 48 percent of the sampled population.
This distribution as noted earlier was important for studies on reproductive health
because both members of the gender divide play an important role in reproductive
and productive matters at household level. The study also considered marital
status as an important variable for reproductive health matters. Data in Table
2c shows the marital status of population in which more than 50 percent of the
population are married. Others are single, separated or widowed. Less than 10
percent were single this implies that majority of the household are led by married
people a typical scenario of the rural life in Tanzania.
37
Mbwambo, J.S and Parit L.S and Masawe, G.S
It is important to note that data in Table 2 shows proportionally large number
(20%) of widowed respondents. While holding informal discussions with
informants they hinted that majority of widowhood cases were associated with
HIV and AIDS. However, this contention should be treated with caution because
majority of those who were widowed were above 50 years of age as indicated
by data in Table 2a. The reason for higher percentage of widowed households
could be attributed to HIV and AIDS, old age as well as other factors in the study
population.
Education Level of the respondents
Most respondents (52.2%) as presented by data in Table 2d have attained a
primary school education. The rest have a standard 4; secondary education and,
16.1 percent have had no formal education. The large proportion of informally
educated respondents corresponds with old age of above 55 years as indicated
by data in Table 2a. This implies that education levels decreases with age in the
surveyed population. It is possible that old people surveyed missed the opportunity
to undergo formal schooling education system at independence when the country
had low rate of primary school enrollment.
Household size and labour
The results from the study population show that the mean, minimum and maximum
number of household members is 5.3, 1 and 11, respectively. This range is
associated with 2.2 standard deviations. The mean household size from the study
population is slightly higher than to the 2002 National Housing and Population
census data compared to Morogoro Region which had the average household
size of 4.6. Figure 2 show that slightly more than a half of the population have
between five and seven household members as indicated in
Figure 2: Household size and number of children born by the household
Above 8
Members
19%
2-4
Members
22%
Above 6
Children
18%
5-7
Members
59%
Equal or
less than
3
Children
40%
38
4-6
Children
42%
Food insecurity and Reproductive Health Problem among Rural Women in, Tanzania
However, the mean household size is slightly higher than the number of children
born by the household head. The mean number of children born by the head
of the household is 4.07, the maximum being 9 and the minimum being 1 at
2.217 standard deviations. Figure 2 shows that 42 percent of the population had
between four to six children, 40 percent bears between one to three children and
the rest had more than 6 children.
It is important to note that while Figure 2 indicated low fertility represented by
40 percent of the respondents, the results should be treated with caution because
most of the respondents with less than 3 children are aged below 35 years as
indicated by the same data. Those below 35 years of age have high probability
of having more children (if no birth control measures are employed) and hence
increased chances of having large household size.
Household food security status
Household food security status was determined using household coping strategies
questions. Results in Figure 3 indicates that most households are food secure.
This means that majority of them have never consumed less preferred food, never
reduced quantity of food served to men or children, have also never skipped
meals in the last seven days at the time of interview. However, these results
should be treated with caution because of the difference in perception of food
security between men and women. In this study, interviews on household food
security coping strategy was done from the most knowledgeable person in food
preparation i.e. a woman following the model by Radimer et al. (1990); Maxwell
and Frankenberger, (1992) and Maxwell (1996). Though, studies by Rime and
Giovanni (1986) and Macht (1999) showed that men describe hunger, and
therefore household food insecurity, differently from women. These differences
point to possibilities that results could be different if men were involved.
Figure
3: Household
food food
security
status status
based on
coping
Figure
3: Household
security
based
on strategies
coping strategies
Consumed Less Preferred Foods
80
Reduced Quantity of Food served to men
70
Reduced Quantity of Food served to children
60
Skipped in the last seven days
Skipped meals for the whole day in the last seven days
Percent
50
Percent
40
30
20
10
0
Never
Rarely
From time
to time
Often
FOOD SECURITY COPING STRATEGIES
The sole role of women on food preparation in the study area and other rural areas of Tanzania
makes finding from this study close to reality.
39 While the use of household coping strategies and
number of months of household food security may be used as good indicators for food security,
they may not sufficiently account of other aspects of food security such as food accessibility and
Mbwambo, J.S and Parit L.S and Masawe, G.S
The sole role of women on food preparation in the study area and other rural
areas of Tanzania makes finding from this study close to reality. While the use of
household coping strategies and number of months of household food security
may be used as good indicators for food security, they may not sufficiently account
of other aspects of food security such as food accessibility and vulnerability.
Accessibility in this regard refers to entitlement to production, exchange and
utilization of food to all members of the household (Mbwambo, 2008). Access
can be analysed using various indicators including food sharing and exchange
dynamics at both intra-household and inter-household arena. Vulnerability is
described by Bryson, Leah and Cohen (2008), as an exposure to contingencies
and stress, and difficulty in coping with them. It is an aggregate measure for a
given household or an individual within the household of the risk of exposure to
different types of shocks and disaster events and the household ability to cope
with these events. Vulnerability thus has two sides; an external side of risks,
shocks and stress to which an individual is subject; and an internal side which
is defencelessness, meaning a lack of means to cope without damaging loss
(Chambers, 1989; Maxwell and Frankenberger, 1992).
Reproductive health and food security
According to Sadana (2002) reproductive health refers to the complex links
between direct and indirect determinants of health and between individual on one
hand and the socioeconomic circumstances on the other. Likewise, the concept
of food security is also complex and, like reproductive health, follows a history
of growth and changes following the evolution of the problem of food insecurity
and the academic considerations to solve the problem. While literature and
experience shows the complexity of the two concepts, this work relied largely on
the few indicators and the people’s views on the same. Thus beginning with age at
marriage this section presents the major reproductive health indicators and open
up a discussion on their implication on household food security.
Age at marriage of respondents
Data in Table 3 reveal a significant difference (Pearson chi-square = 0.511) between
age at which the population get married, age at marriage range between 13 and
25 years. The mean age at marriage is 19.15 years with 3.18 standard deviations.
This as revealed in the Focus Group Discussion is contributed, among other
things by, cultural practices such as Kikulege. Kikulege is a famous traditional
dance practiced among Wazaramo and Wakutu residents of part of the study area.
Waluguru, on the other hand practices more or less similar ceremonies under a
special tree called Mkole which is traditionally believed to be associated with
fertility. The practice is used to initiate teenager girls to enter into reproductive
roles. While both practices socialized the girls on (hygiene, sexual roles and
behavior), it is after the initiation ceremony that most girls are exposed to sex and
early pre-arranged marriage mostly done by the parents.
40
Food insecurity and Reproductive Health Problem among Rural Women in, Tanzania
Table 3: Ages at marriage and at first child
Age at
marriage
Age groups
Kidugalo
(%)
33.3
Lulongwe
(%)
45.5
Fulwe
(%)
40.0
Kipera
(%)
50.0
Mkindo
(%)
43.3
Manza
(%)
30.0
Total
(%)
40.6
25.9
40.7
39.4
15.1
36.7
23.3
30.0
20.0
36.7
20.0
33.3
36.7
33.9
25.5
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
=< 20 Years
29.6%
57.6%
43.3%
53.3%
46.7%
33.3%
44.5%
21 - 25 Years
Above 25
Years
48.1%
22.2%
36.4%
6.1%
43.3%
13.3%
36.7%
10.0%
43.3%
10.0%
46.7%
20.0%
42.2%
13.3%
=< 15 Years
16 - 20 Years
Above 20
Years
Total
Age at first
child
Besides presents having a stake on early marriage, the practice is also associated
with food insecurity because ceremonies accompanying these rituals uses a lot of
food especially cereals. It is also associated with early pregnancies and early child
bearing as well.
Respondents age at first child
Analysis of the results in Table 3 indicate no significance difference of age at first
child across villages (Pearson chi-square = 0.504). In this, the mean age at first
child is 21 years. The results indicate further that the lowest age at first child from
the study population is 14 and the maximum age is 30 years with 3.6 standard
deviations. This means that most young people start to bear children at a younger
age.
It is important to note that age at the first child is linked with education level of
the population as indicated in Figure 4. The role of education in delaying the age
at first marriage and subsequent child bearing may explain the behavior indicated
in Figure 4. Education is also thought to enhance women’s autonomy and control
over childbearing decisions through more egalitarian conjugal relationships and
increased control over economic resources (Bongaart, 2010).
41
Mbwambo, J.S and Parit L.S and Masawe, G.S
Figure 4: Education and Age at First Child
14
23.33%
STD VII
STD IV
12
None
Secondary
10
8
11.67% 11.67%
6
10.0%
8.33%
8.33%
4
6.67%
5.0%
2
3.33%
3.33%
1.67%
1.67%
1.67%
1.67%
1.67%
0
Below 17 Years
18-21 Years
22-25 Years
Above 25
__
Use of Contraceptives
Contraceptive use as noted by Sherris et al., 1985 has been described as the most
important determinant of fertility. Analysis was made on the use of contraceptives
in the study population. It was found that more than a half of couples in the study
population do not use contraceptives. Non-use of contraceptives may result to
increased fertility rate as well as Sexually Transmitted Infections including HIV
and AIDS.
When asked what they use to control pregnancy 50 percent of the
respondents said that they use Pigi, a contraceptive string essentially tied around
the loin traditionally believed to prevent women from unwanted pregnancies.
Pigi is composed of a hidden belief. Unless a woman takes the Pigi off, she is
not expected to conceive and as such they are instructed not to take it off during
breast feeding their young for at least two years. If a woman conceives before two
years period elapses she would be the laughing stock in the village. On contrast
the Waluguru use a herbal tincture from the barks of a tree locally known as
‘Mkizingwi’(Cassia abbreviata). This tincture also believed to have the power
of regulating menstrual flow as well as inducing an abortion. It appears that early
abortion (less than one month after conceiving) is equated to simply bringing
back a delayed menstrual period.
Reproductive health, Food Security and Role of Women on Food
Production
The relationship between reproductive health and household food security
can be analysed from the role played by women in the production of food and
access and control over land for food production. Results in Figure 5 indicate
no clear difference between the sexes in terms of role played in food production.
This implies that both men and women play more or less similar roles in food
production.
42
Food insecurity and Reproductive Health Problem among Rural Women in, Tanzania
Figure 5: Role of men and women in Food Production
50
40
40.45%
Percent
38.2%
30
21.35%
20
10
0
Both
Men only
Women only
____
While the results from Figure 5 show significant contribution of women in food
production, majority of them (65%) have no control over land as indicated by
data in Table 4 which depicts a clear difference between ethnic groups over the
control and ownership of land.
Table 4: Ethnicity and control over land
Ethnic Group
Waluguru
Wazaramo
Wakwere
Wakutu
Other tribes
Total
Yes
78.6
14.3
25.8
0.0
20.0
35
Response
No
21.4
85.7
74.2
100
80
65
Total
100
100
100
100
100
100
Although only 23 percent of Waluguru were sampled for this study, more than
78 percent reported that they have control over land compared to other ethnic
groups sampled. These results are not a mere coincidence because the Waluguru
is among the remaining matrilineal societies in Tanzania where according to
Schaefer, (2005) in this system only the mother’s relatives are important in terms
of property, inheritance, and emotional. The Waluguru allocates land belonging to
their mothers (lukolo) to young women at menarche. This land would be retained
even after marriage in which the husband has no right over the land of his wife’s
family. When she gets married, she would be allocated yet another piece of land
(lima) by the lineage head (Mjomba wa Ukoo). She may cultivate this land in
partnership with her husband. The third piece of land (gani) which she gets from
her uncle strictly belongs to her and she may do anything with it and may give
it to whomever she pleases. Focused Group Discussion revealed the existence a
historical land tenure system called “ngoto” in which individuals with a surplus
of inherited land would rent part of their land, so long as they have received
43
Mbwambo, J.S and Parit L.S and Masawe, G.S
lineage consent. On one hand land is gradually becoming a scarce resource; on
the hand land scarcity is increasingly enabling children to inherit land from their
fathers.
Factors affecting household food security
The study analysed factors responsible for household food security using linear
regression model with the total months of household food security as dependent
variable. Independent variables were obtained from household factors, farm
factors and reproductive health variables. Descriptive statistics of factors used in
the regression model are presented in Table 6.
Table 6: Descriptive analysis of the independent variables
Variables
Age of Household head (Years)
Total household size
Total household labour in hours
Average income (Tsh)
Farm area owned in (acres)
Farm area used in (acres)
Total number of plots owned
Age at marriage (Years)
Age at first child (Years)
Number of pregnancies
Total number of children
Number of children delivered at
home
Minimum
1
1
0
10,000
0
0
0
13
14.00
1
1
0
Maximum
4
11
6
2,000,000
7
6
3
25
30.00
10
9
9
Mean
3.26
5.23
2.66
311,111.11
3.13
2.64
1.57
19.16
21.4333
5.16
4.39
2.75
SD
.841
2.154
1.338
322,078.079
1.681
1.380
.885
3.131
3.59873
2.597
2.056
2.172
The insertion in Table 7 summarises the results of the analysis of variance which
shows a significant model. The fact that the model has large regression sum of
squares in comparison to the residual sum of square indicates that the model
accounts for most of variation in the dependent variable. Moreover, smaller
F statistics indicates that the independent variables fit well in explaining the
variation in the dependent variable.
44
Food insecurity and Reproductive Health Problem among Rural Women in, Tanzania
Table 7: Regression results
Variables
Unstandardized
Coefficients
(Constant)
Age of household Head (Yrs)
Total Household size
Total household labour
Average annual income (Tsh)
Farm area owned (acres)
Total area used (acres)
Total number of plots owned
Age at marriage(Years)
Age at first child (Years)
Number of pregnancies
Total number of children
Number of children delivered
at home
B
3.389
-.056
-.135
.289
-2.23E-007
.084
.122
-.370
.231
-.048
-.091
-.415
.192
Std.
Error
.857
.128
.075
.112
.000
.130
.146
.133
.058
.050
.040
.051
.052
Standardized
Coefficients
Beta
-.031
-.203
.277
-.052
.095
.117
.220
.491
-.117
-.168
-.599
.291
t
3.953
-.439
-1.798
2.588
-.780
.648
.834
2.771
4.011
-.955
-2.297
-8.171
3.697
Sig.
.000
.661
.074
.011**
.437
.518
.405
.006**
.000**
.341
.023
.000**
.000**
Adjusted R2 = 48.9
Sum of Squares
Regression
Residual
Total
df
12
149
161
175.886
160.293
336.179
Mean Square
14.657
1.076
F
13.625
Sig.
0.000
However, while the ANOVA points to a significant model, the regression coefficient
is fairly low at 48.9 percent. This is plausibly because the model contained too
many independent variables including those responsible for reproductive health.
Moreover, while the inclusion of too many independent variables was necessary,
their inclusion tend to over fit the model and hence reduce the value of adjusted
R-Square. However this was necessary because of the absence of a single variable
to explain reproductive health.
Data in Table 7 shows that, of the household factors, it is household labor that
is positive and significant. This means that household food security in the study
area is depended on the household labour, which in this study was determined by
the number of people capable of providing household labour for food production.
However, months of household food security increases with household labour up
to a certain limit when it starts to fall. The influence of household labour may be
important at the beginning and other factors such as farm size may also contribute
to the number of months a household is food secure. This is especially true in
situation where farming is done with limited use of inputs such as fertilizers
which tend to enhance the productivity of labour.
45
Mbwambo, J.S and Parit L.S and Masawe, G.S
Figure 6: Household labour and number of months of household food
security
8.00
Months of Food Security
7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
R Sq Cubic =0.753
3.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
Total Household labour
While one would expect that income would be significant, the results in shown by
data in Table 7 are contrary. The results show that household income is negative
and insignificant. This implies that food security in the study area depends
largely on own production than purchase from the market. The insignificant
contribution of household income establishes the importance of household labour
to household food security in the study population. Data in Table 7 also show
that only number of plots owned by the household is the only farm factor that
is positive and significant at 0.5 percent. The maximum number of plots owned
by the household is 5; the average number of plots owned by the households is
1.92 with 0.9 SD. These results underscore the importance of diversification as a
means for household food security. A household not only diversify type of crop
grown, but also places where they are grown. Therefore the higher the number
of plots the more food secure the household is and vice versa. As expected, three
of the reproductive factors introduced in the regression model were significant.
They include age at marriage, total number of children born and total number
of children delivered at home. While it is difficult to develop a single variable
for reproductive health problems, these results demonstrates the importance of
reproductive health in as far is household food security is concerned.
46
Food insecurity and Reproductive Health Problem among Rural Women in, Tanzania
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Analyzed data from this study indicates that women are important stakeholder
in food production and that reproductive health problems including higher
fertility reduce their contribution on food production at household level. Frequent
pregnancy is promoted by low use of contraceptives, early marriage and early
child bearing as results of several factors including prearranged marriage and
exposure to sex at tender age due to traditional practice such as Kikulenge among
Wazaramo and Wakutu.
Since the role of women in food production and hence household food security is
immense and the influence of reproductive problems as illustrated in this study is
critical, the study recommends the following; Food security interventions should
be coupled with education and interventions on reproductive health matters
affected. In this education on fertility control and availability of health facilities
should be given special attention. Critical analysis of factors contributing to early
marriage and early child bearing is required to ensure women reproductive health
and eventually household food security.
47
Mbwambo, J.S and Parit L.S and Masawe, G.S
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