Food Security Status of Marine Fisheries Households in Batticaloa district of Sri Lanka

The present study aims to determine the food security status of marine fisheries households in Batticaloa district of Sri Lanka and to analyse the impact of socioeconomic and demographic variables on the food security status of households in the district. This study was entirely depended on the primary data which was collected from a sampled questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey was administered in the form of face-to-face interviews. Batticaloa district was selected and the sample was selected from seven fisheries inspectors division in the district. Marine fishing households were randomly selected as sample for the study. Five points Likert scale method was used in the study to calculate the index. The study confirmed that around half of the sampled marine fisheries households were in a moderate level of food security status in the study area. Using the logistic regression model, the study analyzed gender, age, marital status and education of household head, family size, fishing experience, household income and the household population in employment influencing the probability of household food security. The implication of the results highlights that the probability of a food security of the marine fisheries household in Batticaloa district of Sri Lanka depends on various factors such as Gender, Age and Level of Education, Fishing Experience of head of the households, Household Income and the Household Population in Employment. Introducing of alternative livelihood options has been the standard policy to uplift the income and food security conditions of the fishers.