Rural development and food security/ insecurity

Rural development and food security/ insecurity in drought prone rural Zanzibar, a community perspective. 1 . Rationale The major motivation for this study is a personal observation made around rural areas in Zanzibar which experience perennial shocks of drought and food insecurity. The major challenge for these communities in developing countries is accessing basic food stuffs. It seems that most of the communities are trapped in a cycle of poverty or food insecurity of which they are failing to break. Food is a critical component for survival of which shortage affects the accessibility of other basic minimum survival requirements.

In southern and eastern parts of Zanzibar rural livelihoods are primarily based on agriculture which does not produce much because of various factors like natural and economic factors. In these communities food insecurity is prevalent with food aid organizations maintaining a permanent presence in these areas. In a country with little or no state social safety nets to talk about, it becomes imperative for this study to explore, analyses evaluate and come up with recommendations for these rural communities from their perspective as social actors.

Approaches to rural development in Zanzibar seem to take a “one size fits all approach” whereby community differences in a natural, human, economic and social capital are not factored in when rural development policies are being designed. This study seeks to contribute to the broader theoretical issue of development specifically the impact of rural development initiatives on community food security in developing countries. 2. Literature Review In sub-Sahara Africa in terms of development approaches/policies there has been a bias towards urban areas (Mammal 1997).

The major reason for the bias is based on the modernistic thinking of the 20th century which prescribed that for developing entries to achieve development there is need for them to follow the path taken by developed countries. According to modernistic thinking rural areas will be depopulated as a result of high rural to urban migration (Long 1977: 10). In the sub- Sahara context this was not the case. A new trend which is different from developed countries emerged whereby families do not migrate completely to urban areas.

This scenario did not reduce the rural population but created a situation whereby the bulk of the economically active population migrates to urban areas only to return back during their retirement (Bernstein 2009: 5). The issue of food security in rural areas was also affected by agrarian development policies which were aligned to theoretical frameworks of modernization, dependency Ana currently sustainable development. I en major notable aspect AT tense approaches is the absence or minimal input from the rural communities themselves (Havening et al 2007).

These approaches in most cases exacerbated the problem of food insecurity in rural areas in developing countries. This research seeks to examine rural development theoretical framework and policies and their impacts on food security in rural areas which are prone to drought. It seeks to analyses community perspectives on development and food security and factor their views into the broader rural development theoretical framework. 3. Aims and objectives This research tries to achieve a comprehensive understanding of food insecurity in rural areas.

The aims and objectives of this research are: Explain the link between rural development policies and food insecurity in developing countries Explore the causes of food insecurity, explore the coping strategies of communities facing food insecurity Explore the level of social protection available to rural communities to ever food insecurity Explore the ideal recommendations/ ways for a lasting solution to food insecurity. 4. Methodology This research will be qualitative in nature. The approach of this study is two pronged.