The effects of economic rural-urban relations on food security of rural households Case study: Zanjan County

Introduction The interaction and mutual cooperation of rural and urban areas in developing countries is different from the developed ones. The type of relations between villages and town can affect different aspects of rural lifestyle, one of them is its effect on food security. Researches show that the range of effectiveness of such relations include property, the use of new technology, supporting relatives and acquaintances, availability of local markets, pricing policy and market access, development of off-farm income, and consequently, availability of foodstuffs, and increase of food variety and consumption that can all affect food security. Due to the increasing flow of urbanization in Zanjan County, in this research we are studying the economic rural-urban relations on food security. There are two main questions mentioned here: How is the security status of food among rural households? How can we define the economic rural-urban relations on food security? Methodology This is an applied study which has been done using descriptive- analytical method of research. Rural households from villages of Zanjan County contain the statistical society of the present study. In 1390, there was 97225 villagers, 26429 rural households, 13 rural districts, and 248 inhabited villages in Zanjan County. Among these, a number of 14 villages have been selected as samples using modified Cochran formula. Since it was required to select 54 out of 248 villages to study in case analysis, all the 248 villages were checked to recognize how far they are from the urban area. Then, they have classified into 5 groups. Finally, using simple random sampling, due to the frequency of each population class, 54 of them have selected randomly. Those 54 villages, contain of 11662 rural households and a population of 289547 people. Because of using the household unit as the analytical unit of the research, the required number of then for accomplishing the questionnaires has been calculated 290 households within Cochran formula. The required data has been collected by the use of library and field (for questionnaires) methods. Data have been analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Mann-Whitney U and T groups). To calculate the amount of food security two methods of food insecurity scale and standard calories have been used. Discussion and conclusion Findings from the study implies low food security within the studied rural households. Classifying food security within the rural households based on food insecurity scale indicates that only 31.1 percent of them are taking advantage of food security, the rest 68.9 % are struggling against food insecurity. The followings are reported according to the descriptive findings obtained due to the different times of rural household's visits to the town: 11.54 % visit the town once a week, 17.77% twice a week, 16.44% three times a week, 26.66% four times a week, and 27.59% five times a week or more. In other indicators, no significant effect has reported within the economic relations of villages and towns. Maybe it is because of the weak rural-urban relations within the studied areas. Therefore, the followings are suggested according to the new findings of the study: - By strengthening agricultural infrastructures in the villages of high environmental potentials it will be possible to accelerate the process of agricultural development of the studied area, create appropriate conditions for money-making, and improve food security. - Considering the impact of direct selling of agricultural products on food security, the government can make a vital role by its broad support of guaranteed purchase of agricultural products to increase food security and incomes of rural households. - In the studied villages, the improvement of rural routes and shops can increase the access of rural households to food. - Development of tourist-oriented activities in high potential villages can provide a good condition of rural-urban relation formation.