Determinants of household food security: A comparative analysis of eastern and outside eastern Indonesia

Indonesian food policies which have mostly emphasized on self-sufficiency since the colonial period in rice production as the main commodity is not feasible to achieve national food security. This is proven by the problem of food vulnerability and food insecurity which are still persisting in Indonesia. In 2009, Indonesian Food Security Council issued a Food Security and Vulnerability Atlas (FSVA) which stated that there were 100 districts in Indonesia, which were most vulnerable to food insecurity based on the composite food security index. Of the 100 districts, 79 of which were located in Eastern Indonesia. By using Susenas regular data in 2008, this study aims to analyze the determinants of household food security in Eastern Indonesia compared to outside Eastern Indonesia. The ordered logistic regression shows that increasing in expenditure equivalent, increasing in age and education level of household head, female as household head, small household size, household head´s occupation in non-agriculture sector and household location in urban areas will increase the probability of a household become food secure in both regions. In Eastern Indonesia, the factor of access to electricity is significantly increasing probability of a household become food secure while in outside Eastern Indonesia access to safe drinking water and access to loan are significantly increasing probability of a household become food secure.