Components of household-level food security in three southern Border provinces

Abstract

     This research analyzed the components of household-level food security in three Southern Border provinces. The quantitative research approach was used and a food security evaluation questionnaire was distributed to 450 households in the three Southern Border provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat. The descriptive statistics were analyzed to determine frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to group the indicators. Then, confirmatory factor analysis was applied to confirm the conformity of the food security factors. The results showed that food security in the households of the three Southern Border provinces consisted of 43 indicators within 6 factors: 1) sufficiency of inputs and outputs of food production factors and products, 2) water resources and public infrastructure utilities, 3) food stability, 4) food accessibility, 5) food safety, and 6) support and promotion from government and related organizations. In conclusion, food security in the households in the three Southern Border provinces was moderate to low. Thus, the government and related institutions have to execute supporting policies consistently and continuously.