Food access and coping strategies adopted by households to fight hunger among indigenous communities of Sierra Tarahumara in Mexico

Households' food access remains a concern primarily in rural households in lower- and middle-income countries. The purpose of this study is to measure food access and to identify the coping strategies in indigenous households of the communities of Sierra Tarahumara in Mexico. The representative sample was made up of 123 households from 38 communities. The survey was conducted face to face during the winter season between February and March 2015. Since all respondents only speak the Tarahumara language, authors were assisted by translators. The level of access to food was low in 54.47% of households. The main coping strategies used by households were rationing and augmenting short-term household food availability. Bivariate analyses were used, with Chi-square (χ²) test suggesting that coping strategies associated with food access included: reliance on less expensive foods, purchasing food on credit, limiting portion size at meal times, skipping meals, and restricting consumption of adults to secure children's intake. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test indicated that the income derived from various households are identical across all food access levels. We conclude that the indigenous households did experience difficulties in obtaining food.