Social inequalities and household food insecurity in quilombola communities in Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and food insecurity in quilombola communities in Brazil. Methods Microdata from the 2011 Quilombola Census “Assessment of the food and nutritional security situation in titled quilombola communities” were evaluated. The Brazilian household food insecurity measurement scale was used to evaluate household food insecurity status. Multinomial regression models were used to test the association between sociodemographic characteristics and food insecurity. Results The prevalence of food insecurity was 86.1% (mild: 30.2%; moderate/severe: 55.9%). In the final adjusted model, the factors significantly associated with moderate/severe food insecurity (p-value<0.001) were: head of household being single or divorced, head of household with 1-7 years of schooling, a larger domicile size, households with children under 5 years of age, precarious sanitation, a household income of less than the minimum wage, and being from a quilombola communities in the North of the country. Conclusion The results indicated that the prevalence of food insecurity among quilombola households is high, requiring the implementation of public policies to promote food and nutritional security and to mitigate the historical social injustices suffered by this population.