Abstract:
The Manokwari District was include in Indonesian food insecurity mapping (2005) as a district having a severe food insecurity level. This finding is paradoxical because the district ha a vast array of natural resources, in particular food sources, for the people in this region. The highland area, for instance, has potential food sources for the provision of carbohydrate, protein, as well as micronutrient for its people, who mostly work as horticulture farmers. This paper aims to indentify the food security status of these farmers. The main objectives was achieved through three specific means, identifying the household perceptions on food security, identifying the food security status, and identifying household coping strategy when face with declines in food accessibility. A survey of 100 farmer households was condected in Minyambouw, a sub-district in the highland area of Manokwari District, to achieve those objectives. A questioner was presented to each household to identify the household’s perception on food security; and twelve indicators of food security as well as the calorie intakes for each household were calculated to determine their food consumption level. Twelve indicators were used to indentify the coping strategies practiced by the households. The results of the survey show that the majority of households perceive food security as food sufficiency. Most of them have also experienced all of the twelve food security indicators and most of the households consumed less than the national standard for calorie intakes (2550 calories per day). Hence, these households were rated at a food insecure level. In general, most households practied all coping strategy listed except for the termination of education process for their children. Subtituting a lower quality staple food is a common strategy employed by almost all households.
