Understanding the Drivers of Household Hunger and Resilience in Zambia: Implications for Nutrition Programming

Hunger is defined as periods when people experience severe food insecurity due to a lack of money, access to food, or other resources, while resilience refers to a household’s ability to maintain food security despite exogenous shocks. This study uses the case of districts participating in the second phase of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN)/First 1000 Most Critical Days Programme (MCDP) II in Zambia to understand the key drivers of household hunger and resilience. Nearly half of these households experienced severe hunger, while approximately 40% of the households demonstrated resilience to shocks. To address this issue, it is critical to contextualise and understand the underlying drivers of household hunger and resilience. Using ordered probit and probit models, drivers of household hunger and resilience were examined. Results indicate that households engaged in farming, salaried employment, or business activities, households with smaller household sizes, and households with higher education attainment experience less hunger. Access to support programmes like the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP), participation in savings groups, crop and livestock production, and food preservation contribute to hunger mitigation. Resilience is more common among households headed by salaried individuals, those with higher levels of education, and those with smaller household sizes. To reduce hunger and strengthen resilience, policies should enhance economic opportunities, promote education and family planning to support smaller household sizes, and expand access to food production and preservation initiatives.