Structural-interpretive modeling of food security in Mashhad city with a good governance approach

ABSTRACT
One of the effective approaches to realizing food security is the good governance approach, in which the issue of food security can be managed in an efficient manner based on the principles of participation, strict monitoring, adherence to the law, as well as the establishment of justice and equality. The city of Mashhad, due to its location, has different economic, agricultural, socio-demographic, cultural and geographical characteristics. Its population consists of immigrants, nationals, pilgrims, urban and rural residents and different income and ethnic groups. Also, about a third of its population is made up of residents of informal settlements. Due to these characteristics, the issue of food supply is an important and multifaceted issue in Mashhad. The current research is qualitative research and has been conducted with the help of ISM structural-interpretive modeling method. Therefore, using the opinions of experts and experts to identify, localize and level the factors affecting the food security of Mashhad city in the framework of the good governance approach was done in the form of a Delphi interview. Based on the findings of the research, the components were placed in eight levels, and the most effective component, which is located in the independent area in the two-dimensional device of the degree of dependence-power of influence, is the component of "Efficient and accurate monitoring of the food distribution process" from the components of the management field.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Providing healthy, nutritious and sufficient food that is economically and physically available to all people, realizes the concept of food security. Climate changes, urbanization growth, population increase, increase in the price of food products, followed by the growth of poverty, disease, and increase in rural-urban migration are among the factors that cause changes in the desired pattern of food consumption. One of the important elements in the stability and security of the urban food system is how to manage and apply the laws, policies and actions of the government in this field. Since the issue of food security is a multidimensional issue and in addition to being related to economic, social, agricultural dimensions, it also has a temporal, spatial and even political dimension, comprehensive and interdisciplinary programs, especially in food system policy making, It is effective in solving the challenges facing it. Among the effective approaches in urban food policies is good governance. The city of Mashhad with a population of 3,062,242 people according to the census of 2015, in recent decades following extensive migrations from the city and surrounding villages, with about 2 million people living on the margins with various issues including fragmentation. Culturally, economically and socially, there is poor health, inadequate housing, insecurity and poverty. On the other hand, laws and regulations, policies, how food resources are distributed, including markets and fruit and vegetable markets, supervision and decision-making by government and private institutions in this area, are effective on it. In this research, with the aim of identifying the factors affecting food security in the city of Mashhad, they studied and reviewed previous domestic and foreign researches and then localized the identified factors by using Delphi interviews with related experts. Then, by using the structural-interpretive model of ISM, the leveling of the components and their relationship with each other has been achieved.
 
Methodology
The current research is a qualitative and mixed research. This research has three study phases. The first phase has studied and reviewed previous theories and researches using the library method to identify the factors affecting food security. The second phase was conducted using Delphi interviews, with the aim of localizing the components identified in Mashhad. In the third phase, using the structural-interpretive model, the levels of the identified components were determined.
 
Results and discussion
In the first phase of the research, based on the theoretical studies and the background of the research, the factors affecting food security were identified, which are categorized into five fields: demographic, economic, nutritional, managerial and physical. In the second phase of the research, by using Delphi interview, the components were refined and localized, and the result was the extraction of new components and their classification in three fields: management and politics, nutrition and population. Then, in the third phase, using the structural-interpretive method of ISM, the effect and effectiveness of the effective components on the food security of Mashhad city were investigated. In this way, 16 of the components, which had the most repetition and importance among experts, were arranged in the form of a matrix to design a structural-interpretive model questionnaire. In this way, the leveling of the components was done in eight levels. The first level of the components, which is the highest, the component of "unhealthy food consumption" is the most effective component, and the last level, the eighth level, the component of "efficient and accurate monitoring of the food distribution process", is the most effective component.
 
Conclusion
The components identified at 8 levels affect the food security of Mashhad city. The eighth level, which is the most effective level on the research problem, contains component number 8, that is, "Efficient and accurate monitoring of the food distribution process". This component has been proposed from the management and political context, or rather based on the principles of good governance. In the two-dimensional device, the degree of dependence - penetration power is also the position of this component in the independent region. Therefore, it is considered the most effective and important component. In the first level, the component of "unhealthy food consumption" is located, which is also placed in the dependent area in the two-dimensional device of the degree of dependence-power of influence. Its dependency score is 15, and this is the highest level for the influence of the component, among other components, and in general, the issue of food security in Mashhad city. The eighth level, which is the most effective level on the research problem, contains component number 8, that is, "Efficient and accurate monitoring of the food distribution process". This component has been proposed from the management and political context, or rather based on the principles of good governance. In the two-dimensional device, the degree of dependence - penetration power is also the position of this component in the independent region. Therefore, it is considered the most effective and important component. In the first level, the component of "unhealthy food consumption" is located, which is also placed in the dependent area in the two-dimensional device of the degree of dependence-power of influence. Its dependency score is 15, and this is the highest level for the influence of the component, among other components, and in general, the issue of food security in Mashhad city. Weak and inefficient administrative-political measures, and in better words, non-adherence to the principles of good governance and its realization, causes economic problems and their integration with social problems. In other words, weak management causes challenges in people's lives and makes them face issues such as unstable and undesirable income, high living costs (housing, nutrition, education, transportation, etc.), and if this continues, The trend is endangering people's nutritional health. Because in this situation, food supply is done through unhealthy and low-value food, or removing some food items from the household food basket. From this point of view, the most effective measures to achieve food security in Mashhad city are in the management field, and the way forward is to follow the principles of good governance in various fields and fields related to the food security chain.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
 We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.