




































 
 

 

11 
© 2020 by the authors; licensee Asian Online Journal Publishing Group 
 

Economy 
Vol. 7, No. 1, 11-18, 2020 

ISSN(E) 2313-8181/ ISSN(P) 2518-0118 
DOI: 10.20448/journal.502.2020.71.11.18 

© 2019 by the authors; licensee Asian Online Journal Publishing Group 

    
 

 
 
 
Food Security in Urban Households: The Role of Women in an Asian Context 

 
C.W.Kalansooriya1    

W. G. V.Gunasekara2    

P. G. S. A. Jayarathne3    

  
( Corresponding Author) 

 
1Department of Economics, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. 

 
2Department of Business Economics, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. 

 
3Department of Marketing Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. 

 

 
Abstract 

Assuring food security is one of the challenges in low and middle-income countries with their 
rapid urbanization. The role of women has been identified as a key to food security in rural 
societies, however, yet to make conclusions in an urban setting. Hence this study tries to analyse 
the role of women in urban households while addressing the context-specific social and cultural 
differences of women’s role in Asia. The study uses data from Sri Lanka Household Income and 
Expenditure Survey-2016 and estimates the impact of women's role using the Ordinary Least 
Square (OLS) method. The relative status of food security of each household is measured using 
the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS). The study finds a higher level of food security 
is associated with a higher level of female education. Similarly, households are more food secure 
when women are more responsible for household income. Further, it reveals that the economic 
burden on women being the single income earner has not affected on changing the level of food 
security in their households. 

 
Keywords: Food security, Urban households, Women’s role, Asia, Dietary diversity. 

JEL Classification:  I30; O10. 
 

Citation | C.W.Kalansooriya; W. G. V.Gunasekara; P. G. S. A. 
Jayarathne (2020). Food Security in Urban Households: The Role of 
Women in an Asian Context. Economy, 7(1): 11-18. 
History:  
Received: 16 January 2020 
Revised: 21 February 2020 
Accepted: 31 March 2020 
Published: 27 April 2020 
Licensed: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons 

Attribution 3.0 License  
Publisher:  Asian Online Journal Publishing Group 
 

Acknowledgement: All authors contributed to the conception and design of 
the study. 
Funding: The authors wish to acknowledge that this paper was made possible 
by the support and guidance given by the “Australia Awards Fellowships 
Program for Sri Lanka – 2018,” which was funded by the Department of 
Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia, and co-hosted by Monash University, 
Australia and the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. 
Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of 
interests. 
Transparency: The authors confirm that the manuscript is an honest, 
accurate, and transparent account of the study was reported; that no vital 
features of the study have been omitted; and that any discrepancies from the 
study as planned have been explained. 
Ethical: This study follows all ethical practices during writing.   

 

 

Contents 
1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 
2. Literature Review ............................................................................................................................................................................ 12 
3. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 
4. Results ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 14 
4. Discussion and Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................. 16 
References .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 17 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

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Contribution of this paper to the literature 
This study adds empirical evidence to the literature on the role of women in urban societies 
using data from an Asian context. 

 
1. Introduction 

As the world continues to urbanize, sustainable development challenges will be increasingly concentrated in 
cities, particularly in the lower-middle-income countries where the pace of urbanization is fastest (UN, 2014). Food 
security is considered as one such challenge that raised with rapid urban growth and increased urban poverty. 
Urban food security problems would be worse than those in rural areas (Chatterjeea, Butchera, Wicka, DeSutter, & 
Harmonb, 2016) since, unlike in the rural sector, the existence of a safety net, such as rural agriculture, cannot be 
seen in most urban areas. Rising prices of shelter, transport and healthcare facilities further exacerbate the pressure 
on the livelihood of the urban dwellers, making them difficult to afford sufficient food (Cohen & Garrett, 2010; 
Poulsen, McNab, Clayton, & Neff, 2015). As a result, hunger, obesity, malnutrition and unhealthy diets coexist in 
urban areas and affect the poor community (FAO, 2019).  

It is widely identified that women play an important role in ensuring food security at the household level in 
rural areas due to their multiple roles within households as food producers, processors and preparers (ADB, 2014; 
Ibnouf, 2011; Quisumbing & Smith, 2007; Smith & Haddad, 2000). Although the urban sector is not prominent for 
food-producing, the role women play in assuring food security is still more important to explore because most of 
the urban women engage in paid jobs and they face a trade-off between income-earning and undertaking their 
household duties (Gupta, 2006). This is particularly crucial in the Asian context since most of the household food 
preparation duties are culturally assign for women (Quisumbing, Brown, Feldstein, Haddad, & Peña, 1995).  Given 
this context, this study tries to analyse the role of urban women in assuring household food security by exploring 
the context of South Asia. 

This study contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it adds context-specific evidence to the prevailing 
discussion on the role of women in assuring food security in urban households as it explores an Asian context. 
Secondly, the study uses a large sample of a well-structured survey and the food security is figured using more 
reliable information on actual food consumption of households. Hence it provides concrete evidence on the impact 
made by urban women in achieving their household food security. 

Sri Lanka serves as a case study for achieving the study objective, since addressing the issues related to urban 
food security is essential as with increasing growth rate of the urban population in Sri Lanka (UN, 2014). Similarly, 
examining women, in particular, is vigorous because the role of women in the household may have been changed 
over the last decades as the statistics indicate that the participation of women in paid employment has been 
increased in Sri Lanka, particularly in the urban sector (CBSL, 2017). 

 
2. Literature Review 
2.1. The Concept of Food Security 

Food security is defined as a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and 
economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for active 
and healthy life (FAO, 2006). Food security usually has four dimensions: availability, access, utilization and 
stability (FAO, 2008). The availability of food refers to having sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, 
supplied through domestic production, imports, food stocks or food aid. Food access encompasses income, 
expenditure and buying capacity of food by households or individuals. Utilization refers to how nutritional food is 
consumed in order to make maximum use of it and the way the body makes the most of the various nutrients in the 
food. The fourth dimension states the stability of the other three dimensions over time. Food security can be 
investigated at two levels: macro level and micro level. Macro-level food security refers to global, national or 
regional level food security and mostly targets food availability aspects, while micro aspects focus on household or 
individual food acquirements and utilization. 
 

2.2. Food Security in Urban Households 
In earlier times, poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition were viewed as rural problems, with relatively little 

attention given to such problems in cities. However, with rapid urban growth and increased urban poverty, food 
insecurity problems have been increasingly recognized as common to urban areas and sometimes urban food 
security problems are worse than those in rural areas (Atkinson, 1995; Braun, 1993; Chatterjeea et al., 2016; 
Escaler, Teng, & Caballero-Anthony, 2010; Levin et al., 1999; Ruel, Garrett, Morris, Maxwell, & Oshauh, 1998). 
Hunger, obesity, malnutrition and unhealthy diets all coexist in urban areas, affecting the poor and the affluent  
(FAO, 2019).   

Food security in urban areas is different from that in rural areas because, in the former, it is more interpreted as 
a matter of food purchase, which is strongly influenced by income, education and consumption patterns and the 
nature of decision making on food purchases, while in rural areas it is mainly related to food production or 
availability (Floro & Swain, 2013). As Escaler et al. (2010) point out, unlike in the countryside, the urban 
environment is more vulnerable to the global food supply system and price fluctuations resulting from supply 
discontinuities. Similarly, the empirical literature shows the difference between the determinants of food security in 
urban and rural sectors (Frimpong & Asuming-Brempong, 2013). Also evident is the rapid change in consumption 
patterns in urban areas compared to rural areas (Floro & Swain, 2013). Because of increased income, there is a 
higher demand for more expensive sources of nutrients in the urban sector compared to the rural sector, while 
urban households are more vulnerable to variations in the international market and consumption variations due to 
changes in global economic event. Furthermore, due to the pressure on households to earn more income and the 
availability of more economic opportunities in urban areas, there is a greater tendency for women to work outside 
the home, which may mean they have less time and more difficulty caring for their children (Escaler et al., 2010).  

 



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2.3. The Role of Women’s Employment and Income in Household Food Security 
Empirical studies from several countries, including Kenya, Malawi and Mexico, found a positive relationship 

between women’s income and household nutrition and welfare (Bhagowalia, Menon, Quisumbing, & Soundararajan, 
2010; Djebbari, 2005; Islam, Braun, Thorne-Lyman, & Ahmed, 2018; Kennedy & Peters, 1992; Quisumbing et al., 
1995; Sraboni, Malapit, Quisumbing, & Ahmed, 2014). In Sri Lanka, several researchers  found that the mother’s 
income proportion had a significant positive impact on household calorie adequacy and relative calorie adequacy of 
children (Rathnayake & Weerahewa, 2003) and the level of food security (Kalansooriya & Chandrakumara, 2014) in 
the rural sector. As Quisumbing et al. (1995) argue, increasing income generation activities, which translate into 
higher food expenditure and use of health and education facilities, can improve child nutrition. Not only the amount 
of income but also the degree of control by women over family income impact directly on improving household 
food security and nutritional outcomes (Kawarazuka & Béné, 2010). This is because women tend to spend a 
significantly higher proportion of their income on food for the family than do men (Quisumbing et al., 1995; 
Ramachandran, 2008). 

Although women’s income contributes to a positive change in household food security, there is also a downside 
to this. According to Mitchodigni et al. (2017) women’s involvement in income-earning decreases the time 
available for household activities, including providing nutrition for children. Gittinger et al. (1990) state that 
women often reduce the frequency of cooking and increase the amount of food cooked on each occasion to save time 
for activities that produce income. This, in turn, harms the nutritional status of the family, especially for small 
children who need more frequent feeding. Engle (2000) argues that, although women’s income more positively 
relates with children’s nutrition than does men’s income, when women do not have the power to decide how to 
spend their income on children, wage work harms children’s nutritional status. 
 

2.4. Impact of Women’s Education on Household Food Security 
Scholars argue that the correct utilization of acquired food strongly depends on the knowledge and education 

of the person who manages food preparation in the household – a row that generally falls to women (Mitchodigni 
et al., 2017). Women with higher education are likely to provide varieties of food thereby increasing the household 
food security (Mazidi & Vatanparast, 2018; Olumakaiye & Ajayi, 2006). A higher level of mothers’ education is 
significantly associated with more expensive diets; either through purchasing more expensive calories from meat, 
fish, fruit and vegetables, or purchasing more food away from home (Levin et al., 1999). A study by Smith and 
Haddad (2000) using a cross country regression of 63 developing countries, has found that woman’s education 
accounts for 43% of the total reduction in child malnutrition. Quisumbing and Meinzen-Dick (2001) find that 
improving women’s education is probably the single most important policy instrument to reduce poverty. The 
investment in women’s education, more than any other factor, increases women’s capabilities, expands women’s 
opportunities, and empowers women to exercise their choices, greatly improving food security. Ajaero (2017) finds 
that improvement in the educational status of women is crucial for maintaining food security even after natural 
disasters such as floods. The nutritional status of children in Sri Lanka is also found to be positively associated with 
their mother’s education level (Ekanayake, Weerahewa, & Ariyawardana, 2003; Gunasekera, 1999; Rathnayake & 
Weerahewa, 2003).  

 

2.5. Impact of Women’s Status on Household Food Security 
Women’s status can be defined as women’s decision-making power in the household relative to men (Smith & 

Haddad, 2000; Smith, Ramakrishnan, Ndiye, Haddad, & Martorell, 2003). Since intra-household decision power is 
delineated primarily based on household headship (Gumede, 2009) an important measure used in food security 
literature to capture women’s status is whether or not the household is headed by a female. Several studies have 
shown the direct link between female household headship and household food security, mostly in a positive 
direction: Smith. et al. (2003) studying South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin-America, Smith and Haddad 
(2000) studying 63 developing countries, and  Schmeer (2005) on the Philippines support such an argument.  

However, Mallick and Rafi (2010) reveal that there is no significant difference in food security levels between 
male-headed and female-headed households. Indeed, some studies show that female-headed households are more 
vulnerable to food insecurity and non-income aspects of poverty (Babatunde, Omotesho, Olorunsanya, & Owotoki, 
2008; Doocy & Lyles, 2017; Felker-Kantor & Wood, 2012; Kassie, Ndiritu, & Stage, 2014). The reasons are various. 
Firstly, the female head who is the main income earner faces disadvantages in the labour market and many 
productive activities. Secondly, the female head is also responsible for maintaining the household, including 
household chores and childcare in addition to working outside, and thus she is “activity burdened”. Finally, the 
female household head faces a higher dependency ratio for being the single income earner in the household (Mallick 
& Rafi, 2010).  
 

3. Methodology  
The study uses data gathered from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey conducted in 2016 by the 

Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka. This survey uses a nationally representative sample and gathers 
data using two-stage stratified sampling method to cover households and individuals in urban, rural and estate 
sectors. Further, this survey provides micro-data on demographic characteristics, education, health, individual-level 
income and household level expenditures of different categories.  Since our focus is only on the urban sector the 
study selected data of 3429 urban households in this survey.  

The study uses the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS), which developed by Swindale and Bilinski 
(2006) to measure the level of household food security. HDDS provides a snapshot of the economic ability of a 
household to access a variety of foods and it captures the consumption of both macro-and micro-nutrients in line 
with standard definitions of both food and nutrition security.  The HDDS, which is constructed according to 
international guidelines consists of 12 food groups; cereals and other starchy food, roots and tubers, vegetables, 
fruits and nuts, meat, eggs, fish and seafood, pulses, milk and milk products, oil and fat, sugar and sugar products 
and other foods.  



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The Construction of the HDDS for each household involved a few steps. The HIES survey provided detailed 
data of the quantities and expenditures of different food categories consumed weekly by each household. It was 
quite difficult to aggregate the quantities of different food categories since the measurement scales were varied 
within a category. For example, some foods had been recorded in grams while others in numbers. Therefore, the 
expenditures for each food category were aggregated instead of quantities. With the assumption of the amount 
spent reflects the quality of the food consumed, an advantage of this approach was it was possible to take into 
account the quality of the good consumed. However, we assumed that the price variation across the urban sector 
was zero. 

To exclude the household size effect, per-capita expenditure was taken and the mean per-capita consumption 
expenditure of each food categories was calculated by adjusting for outliers. Accordingly, values were assigned as 
one and zero for each household considering whether the consumption of a particular food category was above its 
mean value or not. Finally, the HDDS of each household was calculated by summing up the values obtained for all 
12 food categories. Accordingly, the maximum score that a household could obtain was 12 and it is the highest food 
security level that a household can obtain. It is important to note that the level of food security we have generated 
here is a relative measure as it determines by the sample itself. 

We used a multiple linear regression model with the HDDS as the outcome variable to estimate the impact of 
women in food security. The share of female income in total household income, female education and the household 
headship, as a measure of female status, were included in the model as independent variables to represent the role of 
women. The model was controlled for other demographic factors, such as the age of the household head and the 
ethnic background. 
 

4. Results  
4.1. Descriptive Measures 

A summary of the socio-demographic characteristics of the sample is given in Table 1. Accordingly, three 
fourth of households headed by males and the majority of the women in households educated up to GCE O/L s. 
The female share of the household income is just below 25% of the total income.  
 

Table-1. Characteristics of the sample. 

Socio-demographic factor % of Household 

 Ethnicity Sinhala 58.7 
  Sri Lankan Tamil 19.6 
  Indian Tamil 0.8 
  Sri Lankan Moors 19.6 
  Other 1.3 
Household Headship Male headed 74 
  Female headed 26 
Female education Primary or no education 15.4 
  Up to O/L 55.7 
  Up to A/L 23.2 
  Degree or above 5.7 
  Mean 
Age of the household head (Years) 52.35 
Household size  4.08 
Total household income (Rs)  63612 
Female share of household income 0.23 

                               

 
After adjusting for the outliers, Table 2 shows the mean per capita consumption of each food groups and the 

percentage of household who reached the mean consumption level. Less than 50% of households have reached the 
mean consumption for all food groups except for cereals and pulses. Accordingly, the calculated Household Dietary 
Diversity Score (HDDS) and the percentage of households which had each HDDS are in Table 3. The distribution 
approximately follows the shape of the normal distribution Figure 1. The mean HDDS for the whole sample is 
5.73. 
 

Table-2. Mean per capita consumption expenditures. 

Food category Mean per capita expenditure (Rs) % of household above the mean 

Cereals and other starchy 313 54 

Roots and tubers 16 47 
Vegetables 88 47 
Fruits and nuts 37 46 
Meat 70 46 
Eggs 12 46 
Fish and sea food 180 48 
Pulses 34 50 
Milk and milk products 120 46 
Oil and fats 28 46 
Sugar  26 43 
Other products 321 46 

 
 
 
 
 



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Table-3.  Household dietary diversity score (HDDS). 

HDDS No of households % of households 

0 42 1.22 
1 148 4.32 

2 253 7.38 
3 372 10.85 
4 429 12.51 
5 398 11.61 
6 420 12.25 
7 406 11.84 
8 411 11.99 
9 291 8.49 

10 171 4.99 
11 72 2.10 
12 16 0.47 

 3429  
   

 
 

Figure-1.  Distribution of HDDS. 
 

4.2. Estimated Model 
Table 4 shows the correlation matrix for the independent variables. Except for female income share and 

household headship, it does not show a considerable level of correlation between other variables. However, the VIF 
values prove that the model has not been affected by the multicollinearity issue. Therefore, all the independent 
variables were included in the model.  
 

Table-4. Correlation for independent variables. 

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Ethnicity 1 
     Age of the household head -0.073 1 

    Total household income -0.067 0.023 1 
   Woman's education -0.212 -0.218 0.241 1 

  female share of household income -0.045 -0.052 -0.044 0.106 1 
 female household headship 0.037 0.129 -0.066 -0.164 0.528 1 

                       
Using HDDS as a dependent variable which measure the level of food security, the model was estimated, and 

Table 5 shows the results. The estimated model is significant at 1% significance level. The result indicates a 
significant increase in the HDDS with female income share and female education. When the female share of total 
household income increase households tends to increase their HDDS by 0.855 points. Similarly, compared with the 
households in which women have not educated or educated only up to grade 5, all other households with higher 
female education level reflect a higher level of HDDS. It is important to note that the higher the level of education, 
the higher the impact on HDDS. In particular, if women educated up to O/L, their HDDS is higher by 0.84 points 
while if she educated up to A/L it is higher by 1.78 points. If she educated up to Degree level, then their HDDS is 
higher by 2.35 points. The results also show that the HDDS of households in which females are headed by are 
lower, but the coefficient is not significant. 

 
 
 
 

 

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0 5 10 15
HDDS



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Table-5. Result of the estimated model. 

Dependent Variable : HDDS 

Variables Coefficients 

Ethnicity (Reference group= Sinhalese  

Sri Lankan Tamil -0.324*** 
(0.117) 

Indian Tamil -0.083 
(0.501) 

Moors -0.541*** 
(0.118) 

Others -0.193 
(0.421) 

Age of the Household head 0.012*** 
(0.003) 

Total Household Income 2.40E-06*** 
(4.43e-07) 

Woman's Education (reference group = Primary or no education)  
Up to GCE O/L 0.844*** 

(0.132) 
Up to GCE A/L 1.778*** 

(0.157) 
Degree or above 2.35*** 

(0.234) 

Female income share 0.855*** 
(0.157) 

Female status (Reference = male headed households) -0.162 
(0.122) 

Constant 3.902*** 
(0.246) 

                           Note: *** indicate significant at 1%.  

    
Considering other variables, ethnic categories, age of the household head and household total income included 

in the model as control variables. All the other ethnic categories show a lower level of HDDS compared to 
Sinhalese, however, the coefficients are significant only for Sri Lankan Tamils and Moors. Compared to Sinhalese, 
the HDDS of Sri Lankan Tamils and Moors are 0.32 points and 0.54 lower respectively. Age of the household is 
also positively contributed to HDDS, but only a small amount. When age increase by one year the HDDS increase 
only by 0.01 points. HDDS is positively affected by household income, but only marginally. 
 

4. Discussion and Conclusion 
This study examines the role of women in ensuring food security in urban households in Sri Lanka. It uses data 

from 3429 urban households gathered by the Department of Censuses and Statistics under Household Income and 
Expenditure Survey, 2016. The measurement variable which the study used for food security was HDDS.  

The study reveals a positive relationship between female income share and household food security. With 
increasing female income share, households tend to be food secure, whereas they are food insecure at lower levels of 
female income or zero female income. This finding is in line with the findings of Islam et al. (2018); Sraboni et al. 
(2014); Bhagowalia et al. (2010); Djebbari (2005); Quisumbing et al. (1995) and Rathnayake and Weerahewa (2003) 
who found that female income positively affects household food security. A woman with a higher share of 
household income means that she may economically strong and can produce a diverse diet for her household 
members. Therefore, those household reflect a higher level of food security. This result challenge some findings of 
the literature that shows that women face a trade-off between their income-generating and caring roles (Engle, 
2000; Levin et al., 1999; Mitchodigni et al., 2017). It seems that even though women have to work longer hours, 
and have limited time for household chores such as food preparation, she can still manage her time to provide a 
diverse diet to her household members. This could be basically because they are culturally more responsible for 
looking after the food needs of the household. This study further questioned the findings of Mitchodigni et al. 
(2017) and Variyam, Blaylock, Lin, Ralston, and Smallwood (1999) who also found that household food security is 
negatively affected when women engage in economic activities.  Such contradictory findings may result from 
differences in the context, data sources used and the timing of the studies.  

Women’s education has a positive influence on the diversity of the diet consumed by urban households. This 
may due to educated women paying more attention to preparing a nutritious diet in the household. Women’s 
education was related to the consumption of nutritious food such as fruit, fish and milk products. In particular, the 
consumption of fruit and milk products in households gradually increased with the increasing education level of 
women. This is in line with the findings of authors such as Mazidi and Vatanparast (2018); Olumakaiye and Ajayi 
(2006) and Rathnayake and Weerahewa (2003) who found that women’s education has positive impacts on dietary 
quality.  

Women’s status in this analysis was defined as the women’s power in the household in influencing and 
controlling household decisions. Accordingly, women’s status is decided by taking into account whether the woman 
is the head of the household or not, assuming that she has a higher status when she is the head than those who not. 
However, women’s status in the household does not show any significant relationship with household food security, 
implying that female household headship is not a matter of food security at the household level. Such findings 
match those of Mallick and Rafi (2010) and Garrett and Ruel (1999) who found no difference in food security 
between male-headed and female-headed households. However, this challenges the findings of scholars such as 
Smith et al. (2003); Smith and Haddad (2000); Schmeer (2005) which shows that women’s status is an important 
factor in household food security. Also, it questions the researches of Doocy and Lyles (2017); Kassie et al. (2014); 



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Babatunde et al. (2008); Levin et al. (1999) and Kennedy and Peters (1992) which show a significant difference in 
food security levels between male- and female-headed households.  

The findings reveal important policy directions to enhance food security at the household level in the urban 
sector. As the study reveals that households gain a higher level of food security when women are more 
economically strong and educated, policy actions should target in improving their economic ability and education. 
Some of the self-employment which they can do while they are at home would be a better solution as it saves 
women's time for household duties while generating extra income.  Similarly, higher attention should be paid to 
improve education since women’s higher education generates positive impacts on household food security. 
Education could help increase nutritional awareness of women, and thereby increase the nutritional quality of the 
diet consumed by household members. More importantly, education offers a window for women to obtain better 
employment, which enhances their ability to earn more income and thereby increase the food security of their 
households. 
 

References 
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