Education Attainment of Head of Household and Household Food Security: A Case for Yatta Sub - County, Kenya

Augustine M. Kara^1, and Lucy M. Kithu²

¹Maasai Mara University, Narok, Kenya

²University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

Cite this paper:
Augustine M. Kara and Lucy M. Kithu. Education Attainment of Head of Household and Household Food Security: A Case for Yatta Sub - County, Kenya. American Journal of Educational Research. 2020; 8(8):558-566. doi: 10.12691/education-8-8-7

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between education attainment of head of household and household food security in Yatta Sub - County, Kenya. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The target population was 19,349 households. A stratified random sample of 378 households was used in the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire whose return rate was 81.0%. Majority (55.9%) of the households were headed by a male. Most (93.3%) of the heads of the households had formal schooling. Though a high proportion (56.4%) of the households were farmers, majority (53.3%) purchased food from the market. Most (63.5%) of the households were severely food insecure with hunger. It was found that the level of education attainment of head of household and level of food security were significantly related (x²= 84.495; df = 9; p= 0.000). As the education attainment of the head of household increased, the level of household food security also improved. However, it was observed that basic education graduates (primary and secondary education) were struggling to ensure household food security. This was partly explained by skills mismatch that hampered transition from learning to earning, negative attitudes towards informal employment and agriculture, lack of information on careers and job prospects and lack of capital to venture into enterprise creation. The study recommends that the Government should sustain efforts to provide free primary education, free tuition in secondary schools and improved access to postsecondary education considering that advanced levels of education attainment make a difference in households’ food security. Further, there is need for interventions to mitigate skills gap among the basic education graduates. Such interventions include training programmes for out of school adults to increase their adaptability and flexibility to realities of the formal and informal employment sectors including agriculture which is the main source of employment in rural areas.

Keywords:
education attainment household head household food security

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