ANALYSIS OF HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY CONCERNS AND COPING STRATEGIES OF SMALL FARMERS IN NORTHWESTERN HIGHLANDS OF PAKISTAN

Food insecurity is turning out to be one of the worst crises of world in future. Developing countries are especially considered vulnerable to be hit most severely by this impending danger. Resource scarce regions of Pakistan are also included in the list of marginalized areas where population is not able to manage its food by herself. The present study was designed to analyze the state of household food security concerns and identify managing strategies for dealing with shortage of food patterns in Northern Pakistan. The research was based upon a survey of randomly selected two districts. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used for data collection. The results indicated that prices of food items were very high. It also delineated that lack of irrigational water; limited market access, and high cost of fertilizers were leading production related constraints. As a resort to these constraints and due to low output from the food crops there was found a shift from subsistence to cash seeking cropping patterns of the growers. This increase in income was perceived as a mean to ensure household food security. Furthermore, at household level the respondents expressed to reduce their expenses on the agricultural inputs in future.