Citation: Najam, W.; Ibiyemi, T.; Aziz, S.; Najam, R.; Gichohi-Wainaina, W.N.; Oldewage-Theron, W. Social Determinants of Rural Household Food Insecurity under the Taliban Regime. Nutrients 2023, 15, 1681. https://doi.org/10.3390/ nu15071681 Academic Editor: Martina Barchitta Received: 26 February 2023 Revised: 28 March 2023 Accepted: 28 March 2023 Published: 30 March 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). nutrients Article Social Determinants of Rural Household Food Insecurity under the Taliban Regime Wasiuddin Najam 1, * , Temitope Ibiyemi 1 , Sajia Aziz 2 , Rafiuddin Najam 3 , Wanjiku N. Gichohi-Wainaina 1 and Wilna Oldewage-Theron 1,4, * 1 Department of Nutritional Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA 2 School of Public Health, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA 3 School of Public Policy, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA 4 Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa * Correspondence: wnajam@ttu.edu (W.N.); wilna.oldewage@ttu.edu (W.O.-T.) Abstract: Despite the severity of food insecurity in Afghanistan, little is known about the factors contributing to household food insecurity (HFI) under the Taliban regime. Therefore, this paper investigated the social determinants of severe HFI in rural areas of Afghanistan. We used the fifth-round survey of 6019 rural households from 25 provinces, collected between July and August 2022 by the Food and Agriculture Organization. We used binary logistic regression to examine the association between household characteristics and HFI. The majority of household heads were male (97.8%) with no education (62.8%). The findings showed that female-headed households had significantly higher odds of severe HFI. Household heads with any level of formal education had significantly reduced odds of severe HFI, while the odds of severe HFI was not different among those with religious/informal household-head education compared to those with no education. Likewise, engagement in any type of agricultural activity decreased the odds of severe HFI. Additionally, household income per member was negatively, while household size was positively associated with severe HFI. In summary, interventions to alleviate HFI among rural households should prioritize income-generating opportunities and skills targeting households with female heads, low levels of household-head education, larger size, no agricultural activities, and low income. Keywords: food insecurity; rural households; Afghanistan; Taliban 1. Introduction A household suffers from food insecurity when the household members are unable to consistently access safe, nutritious, and sufficient food that is essential for maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle [1]. Food insecurity is a significant global challenge, affecting millions of individuals and households globally [2]. The global prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity was approximately 2.3 billion people in 2021, which is about 29.3% of the world population, an increase of an additional 350 million individuals since 2019 [2]. Several factors, including political instability [3], climate variability and extremes [4], and downturns of the economy [5], as well as the COVID-19 pandemic that further exacerbated the food insecurity situation, have contributed to the high prevalence of global food insecurity [2]. Food insecurity has been a major issue in Afghanistan for decades [6,7]. Food availabil- ity and access have been impacted by multiple factors, and poor nutrition indices indicate challenges in the utilization pillar of food insecurity; however, the stability pillar has been a particularly strong pillar that has influenced food insecurity in Afghanistan [6]. Prior to the year 2000, the prolonged political instability and conflict in Afghanistan negatively affected food production, supply, and access across the country, which contributed to the high prevalence of food insecurity among Afghans [6]. As a result, the country suffered Nutrients 2023, 15, 1681. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15071681 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients