Sustainable food security is an emerging research topic and interest among the researchers, global leaders, institutions and scientists. Food security is related to access and availability of nutritious food irrespective of gender, class and religion. The Second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) adopted by the UN (2015) under Agenda 2030, promotes the need to end hunger or zero hunger by adopting food security and sustainable agriculture. Globally food insecure population has increased since 2014 and in 2017, it was 821 million, among which worst affected are rural women. (www.fao.org)
This paper concerns with the role empowerment of rural women in achieving sustainable food security. The study investigates the relation between the household food securities in terms of nutritional status and health status of women and children corresponding to the levels of women’s empowerment by considering their education level, family income, access to credit and banking, participation in self-help groups, mobility etc. To arrive at a conclusion, association between the variables of food security and level of women empowerment has been studied. The whole study is based on primary field survey of rural women of Gobindapur village under Islampur Block of Uttar Dinajpur District, West Bengal. The study indicates higher level of empowerment is positively associated to better nutritional status and food security.
Key words: Sustainable food security, Nutritional status of Women, Sustainable Development Goals, Empowerment of Rural Women, Agenda 2030.
|
