Influence of Home Gardening on Household Food Security in Rarieda Sub-County of Siaya County in Kenya

Abstract

The number of people lacking food security globally is on the rise despite the numerous global interventions put in place to address it. About 2.3 billion people lack food security, with 828 million of them being undernourished. In Kenya, approximately 17 million people are food insecure with two million relying on food relief. Almost 80% and 68% of Siaya and Rarieda households are not food secure. This study employed cross-sectional research design to examine the influence of home gardening on household food security in Rarieda sub-County. Analytical results indicated that about 73.53% of the respondents practiced home gardening to boost household food security. Grains, horticultural crops, aquaculture and livestock farming were characteristic features of home gardening. The results indicated a strong positive and significant correlation between home gardening and household food security (r=0.633; ?<0.000) with a composite mean and standard deviation of 3.23 and 1.315, respectively. The study concluded that home gardening strongly, positively and significantly influenced household food security in Rarieda sub-County. The study recommended that home gardening be embraced and promoted not only in Rarieda but also in Kenya at large so as enhance food security.