Assessing food insecurity severity and lived experiences among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey: evidence from a rasch-based mixed-methods study

Abstract

Background

Turkey has become an increasingly important destination for Sub-Saharan African migrants over the past four decades, particularly in large metropolitan areas such as Istanbul. Yet, unlike Syrian refugees, this diverse and growing migrant population remains largely invisible in both national statistics and food security research, despite facing economic precarity, informal employment, and limited access to social protection. Against a backdrop of rising food prices and urban living costs, this study examines the prevalence, severity, and lived experiences of food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul, combining standardized measurement with qualitative insights to illuminate an overlooked dimension of migration and inequality in Turkey.

Methods

An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed. Quantitative data were collected from 108 adult migrants through structured face-to-face surveys conducted at two community-based organizations between November 2022 and March 2023. Food insecurity was measured using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), and Rasch modeling was applied to assess measurement performance and comparability with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) global reference scale. To contextualize the quantitative findings, four semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted online and analyzed thematically using the four FAO dimensions of food security: availability, access, utilization, and stability.

Results

Rasch analysis indicated acceptable measurement performance and internal consistency of the FIES in this population. Approximately 35% of participants experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, and 21.7% experienced severe food insecurity in the previous year. Qualitative findings revealed that food insecurity was driven primarily by economic constraints and rising food prices rather than physical food availability. Participants highlighted the high cost of culturally familiar foods, precarious employment conditions, and uneven access to social networks as key factors shaping food access and stability.

Conclusion

Food insecurity represents a substantial and multidimensional challenge for Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul. The findings underscore that income presence alone does not ensure food security and that affordability and cultural accessibility are central barriers. Together, the results highlight the need for migrant-inclusive, culturally informed food policies that address cost pressures and leverage community-based support mechanisms for underserved migrant populations in Turkey.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-026-27086-w.

Background

International migration has intensified food insecurity risks among marginalized migrant populations, particularly in urban settings characterized by high living costs and limited social protection. While food insecurity has been widely documented among refugees and migrants in many host countries, empirical evidence remains uneven across migrant groups and national contexts. In Turkey, research and policy attention have focused predominantly on Syrian refugees, leaving other migrant populations—especially Sub-Saharan African migrants—largely invisible in national data, academic research, and food assistance frameworks. While prior research in Turkey has primarily focused on Syrian refugees or relied on indirect proxies of food access, empirical evidence on food insecurity among non-Syrian migrant groups—particularly using validated, internationally comparable instruments—has been lacking. As a result, little is known about the prevalence, severity, and mechanisms of food insecurity affecting this group, despite their growing presence in major cities such as Istanbul. This lack of evidence constrains the development of inclusive, data-informed food and social protection policies. The primary aim of this study is to document the prevalence and severity of food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants residing in Istanbul using a validated, Rasch-calibrated food insecurity measure. A second aim is to explore the economic and social mechanisms shaping migrants’ food access and dietary experiences through qualitative inquiry. Rather than identifying independent causal determinants, the study adopts an exploratory mixed-methods approach to understand how food insecurity is experienced and structured within a context of economic precarity, high inflation, and limited institutional support. Quantitative analyses were therefore descriptive and measurement-focused, while qualitative interviews were used to contextualize and interpret observed food insecurity patterns. Thus, this study addresses a well-defined gap in the literature by providing the first Rasch-based assessment of food insecurity severity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey and by situating these measurements within migrants’ lived economic and social realities. By combining Rasch-calibrated measurement of food insecurity prevalence with qualitative insights into affordability constraints, health-related shocks, access to culturally familiar foods, and the role of social networks, this study offers context-specific evidence on how food insecurity is experienced in a high-inflation urban setting. These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of migrant food insecurity in Turkey and provide a foundation for future research and policy efforts targeting underserved migrant populations.

Food insecurity (FI) is a growing global public health concern that disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including migrants and refugees. Addressing severe forms of FI, including hunger, remains central to global policy and research agendas [1]. The 1996 World Food Summit defined food security as a condition in which “all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” [2]. This concept is typically conceptualized across four dimensions—availability, access, utilization, and stability [3]. In 2022, an estimated 2.4 billion people—around 30% of the world’s population—experienced some level of food insecurity [4]. Migrants are among those most affected, as global displacement and economic crises intensify. Turkey mirrors this trend. As of 2023, Turkey hosted approximately 1,183,710 registered foreign migrants, with Istanbul accounting for about 50.4% of this population (approximately 597,000 individuals) [5]. In addition, when Syrian nationals under temporary protection are included, the total migrant and refugee population in Turkey exceeds five million [6]. Within this diverse population, Sub-Saharan Africans constitute an increasingly visible yet understudied group.

Sub-Saharan Africa, home to 46 countries, remains the world’s poorest region, accounting for over half of the global population living in extreme poverty [7, 8]. Since 1990, the number of Sub-Saharan Africans living abroad has more than doubled, reaching around 20 million by 2013 [9]. Migration from the region is largely driven by economic hardship—about 90% migrate for financial reasons—as well as by conflict, political instability, and state failure [10–12]. Sub-Saharan African migration to Turkey began in the 1980s with the arrival of African students in Istanbul and Ankara and has since diversified. Contrary to the common perception that Sub-Saharan Africans are primarily transit migrants enroute to Europe, research shows that many settle in Turkey for economic, educational, or safety reasons [10, 12, 13]. Since the 1990s, the number of irregular migrants and asylum seekers from Sub-Saharan Africa has increased, encompassing a wide range of legal statuses including refugees, visa overstayers, and undocumented workers [14, 15]. Although Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees in the world, the academic and policy attention given to Sub-Saharan African migrants has remained limited. This neglect is largely due to the overwhelming focus on the Syrian refugee crisis following Turkey’s open-door policy toward Syrians. While Syrian refugees benefit from temporary protection and access to health and social services [16, 17], African migrants generally lack such rights and remain largely excluded from formal assistance [18]. Reliable statistics are scarce—Saul’s [15] fieldwork estimated about 35,000 West and Central Africans living in Istanbul—but available evidence points to precarious livelihoods, low-paying informal work, and limited access to social protection.

A large body of literature demonstrates that food insecurity is widespread and especially acute among migrant and refugee populations. Using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, Omidvar et al. [19] found that food insecurity was significantly higher among Afghan immigrant women in Iran compared with native populations. In California, Greenwald & Zajfen [20] applied the Household Food Security Survey Module and found that low income and large household size were major predictors of FI among immigrants. The World Food Programme [21] similarly reported, across ten countries including Turkey, that FI acts both as a driver and a consequence of migration (see also [22]). Studies in the United States—such as those by Chilton et al., Hadley & Sellen, Hadley et al., and Nam & Jung [23–25], and [26],—consistently show higher FI among recently arrived migrants, particularly those with low income and limited education, although some findings suggest that length of residence is not always decisive [20]. Research from Canada [27–29] and Portugal [30] similarly highlights that migrants’ food insecurity is shaped by economic hardship, gender, language barriers, and limited access to social services. In South Africa, Crush & Tawodzera [31] reported that over 80% of Zimbabwean migrant households were food insecure, with larger households particularly vulnerable. Qualitative studies further emphasize other barriers, including limited access to culturally appropriate foods and the high cost of such items [28, 32].

In Turkey, existing evidence shows gendered disparities in FI, with women facing greater vulnerability [33]. Ghazal & Bozoglu [34], using the FAO Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), found that 60% of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in northern Turkey experienced food insecurity, however, no studies to date have investigated FI among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey. Recent empirical evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa highlights the structural and economic nature of food insecurity and vulnerability, even in contexts where formal social protection mechanisms are in place. Using nationally representative household data from Tanzania, Msuha & Kissoly [35] show that participants in the Productive Social Safety Net (PSSN) program remain substantially vulnerable to both poverty and food insecurity, with approximately one-fifth of beneficiary households classified as highly vulnerable to food insecurity despite program enrollment. Their findings emphasize that vulnerability is shaped by household characteristics and structural conditions—including household size, age, rural residence, occupation, and access to credit—rather than income alone. In a related study, Msuha & Kissoly [36] demonstrate that while social safety nets can reduce households’ vulnerability to food insecurity, their effectiveness varies by program design, with combined cash transfer and public works interventions yielding stronger protective effects. Together, these studies underscore that food insecurity persists under conditions of economic precarity and incomplete protection, a dynamic that is particularly relevant for migrants who often face limited or no access to formal social safety nets in host countries, and that vulnerability is dynamic rather than fully alleviated by partial institutional support. This evidence is particularly relevant for understanding food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants, whose pre-migration exposure to structural vulnerability may intersect with post-migration constraints such as income instability, limited access to social protection, and rising food prices in host-country urban settings. For Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey—who are largely excluded from national assistance programs and exposed to rising living costs—these insights provide important context for understanding how pre-existing structural vulnerability may intersect with post-migration economic constraints to shape food insecurity experiences in urban settings such as Istanbul.

Thus, existing research on food insecurity among migrant and refugee populations consistently highlights the central role of economic vulnerability, including unstable income, low wages, and limited access to formal employment, as key drivers of inadequate food access. Studies conducted in North America, Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa have also documented the importance of income adequacy, rather than income presence alone, in shaping food security outcomes, particularly in high-cost urban environments where housing, transportation, and food prices constrain purchasing power [24, 25, 31, 37–40]. In addition, health-related shocks, such as illness or hospitalization, can exacerbate food insecurity by disrupting employment and increasing household expenses [41–43]. These effects may be particularly pronounced among migrants, who often lack access to paid sick leave, health insurance, or social protection.

Beyond economic and health-related factors, as summarized above, the literature emphasizes the relevance of food affordability relative to local prices [38, 44], access to culturally familiar foods [28, 45, 46], duration of residence in the host country [24, 29, 47], and the availability of social networks that provide informal support and information [31, 48, 49]. Despite this growing body of work, empirical evidence remains scarce for non-Syrian migrant populations in Turkey, particularly Sub-Saharan African migrants, who are largely absent from national surveys and policy discussions. While a few studies have explored food insecurity among migrant populations in Turkey [50, 51], none have examined food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants as a distinct population, nor have they employed a validated, Rasch-calibrated food insecurity measure that allows for severity assessment and international comparability. As a result, it remains unclear whether the mechanisms identified in several contexts—such as income adequacy (food affordability), high inflation, rising food prices, health shocks, access to culturally familiar foods, length of stay, and social connectedness—operate similarly for Sub-Saharan African migrants living in Turkey’s major urban centers. To address these gaps, the present study adopts a descriptive and exploratory mixed-methods design to examine food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants residing in Istanbul, integrating all these dimensions with qualitative accounts of lived experience, providing both empirical and contextual insights into an overlooked migrant population, and aiming to inform inclusive food security policies and programs in Turkey. Rather than estimating causal determinants, by combining Rasch-based validation of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale with descriptive quantitative evidence and in-depth qualitative interviews, the study aims to document the prevalence and severity of food insecurity and to explore the economic and social mechanisms shaping migrants’ food access and dietary experiences in a context of high inflation and limited institutional support.

Methods

This study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design to examine the prevalence, severity, and lived experiences of food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants residing in Istanbul, Turkey. The study begins with quantitative data collection and analysis using Rasch modeling to assess and validate the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). This is followed by a qualitative exploration that further contextualizes the quantitative findings by summarizing individual-level characteristics and illustrating the demographic diversity and food security status of the interviewed participants. The quantitative component assessed food insecurity using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), a validated experience-based measure of economic access to food, while the qualitative component provided contextual insight into migrants’ everyday food-related challenges. Hunger was measured quantitatively using the individual-level Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), while migrants’ “voices” were captured through semi-structured qualitative interviews designed to elicit lived experiences of food access and insecurity. The study population consisted of adult migrants born in Sub-Saharan African countries and currently living in Istanbul. Quantitative survey data were collected from 108 participants through structured face-to-face surveys, and follow-up qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted online with a purposive subsample of four participants to contextualize and interpret the survey findings. Data were collected between November 2022 and March 2023 at two community-based sites in Istanbul: ASEM, a non-governmental organization serving African migrants, and St. Mary’s Armenian Church in Fatih, a key gathering place for Ethiopian Orthodox migrants. Participants were selected based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria to ensure methodological transparency and consistency across study components. Eligibility for survey participation required individuals to be Sub-Saharan African migrants1 residing in Istanbul, aged 18 years or older, and able to read and write in either English or French. For the qualitative component, additional eligibility required sufficient English proficiency to participate in semi-structured interviews. Exclusion criteria included individuals younger than 18 years of age, migrants from countries outside Sub-Saharan Africa, and those with no or limited literacy in English or French; for the qualitative interviews, individuals unable to communicate in English were excluded. Initially, 111 individuals completed the survey; however, two participants of Haitian origin and one individual of Sub-Saharan African origin holding French citizenship and visiting Turkey for tourism purposes were excluded based on eligibility criteria. The final analytical sample for the quantitative component, therefore consisted of 108 participants. Moreover, due to incomplete item-level responses, 19 participants were excluded from the FIES Rasch analysis in accordance with FAO-recommended procedures, resulting in an analytical sample of 89 individuals. For the qualitative component, ten individuals initially expressed interest in follow-up interviews; however, due to scheduling constraints or withdrawal of consent, four participants ultimately completed interviews. Sample size was determined by the feasibility of recruiting a hard-to-reach migrant population through community-based organizations using a snowball approach. Rasch modeling emphasizes item functioning and measurement validity rather than effect estimation, and previous applications of the FIES have shown that samples of comparable size are sufficient to evaluate scale reliability and item fit within specific populations. Accordingly, the final quantitative sample was adequate to examine food insecurity severity patterns and measurement properties in this understudied group.

Consistent with prior FIES validation studies, regardless of scale, in this study we prioritize psychometric validity and descriptive prevalence rather than causal modeling [52]. Quantitative analysis first focused on summarizing descriptive statistics to define sample characteristics which include participants’ sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics, migration profiles, and health-related factors, and contextualizing food insecurity prevalence. Further, it focused on estimating the prevalence and severity of food insecurity, and evaluating the measurement performance of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) using Rasch modeling, following FAO guidelines for international comparability. Rasch analysis was selected to ensure internal consistency, appropriate item functioning, and alignment with the global FIES reference scale in a migrant population for which validated food insecurity measures are scarce. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were used to explore migrants’ lived experiences of food access, affordability, dietary adaptation, and coping strategies in an urban, high-inflation context. This mixed-methods approach allowed for triangulation between standardized measurement and experiential narratives. This approach was selected based on prior research demonstrating the value of combining experience-based food insecurity measurement with qualitative inquiry, particularly among migrant and hard-to-reach populations, where contextual interpretation is essential for understanding how food insecurity is perceived and experienced. FAO explicitly encourages combining FIES with contextual and qualitative analysis, especially when applying the scale in diverse cultural or vulnerable populations [53]. Coates et al. [54] establishes that experience-based measures benefit from qualitative grounding to interpret cultural meanings of food insecurity. Hadley & Sellen [24] demonstrates the importance of combining survey-based food insecurity measures with qualitative accounts among migrant populations. Maxwell et al. [55] argues that mixed-methods designs improve interpretation of experience-based indicators. Vahabi & Damba [28] explicitly uses qualitative data to contextualize food insecurity measurement in migrant communities. Thus, the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) has been widely used in diverse international contexts and is recommended by the FAO for cross-population comparability, including in settings characterized by economic precarity and informal livelihoods. Rasch modeling is the standard analytical framework for validating FIES and assessing its performance across cultural contexts, allowing both prevalence estimation and evaluation of item functioning. Complementing this quantitative approach, qualitative interviews have been used in previous food insecurity studies to contextualize measurement results and capture lived experiences that may not be fully reflected in survey instruments. Together, this combination has been shown to enhance interpretability and policy relevance in studies of vulnerable migrant populations.

Our analytical approach is consistent with prior large-scale validation studies using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), which similarly relied on descriptive statistics and Rasch modeling. Given the modest sample size and the study’s exploratory aims with descriptive characterization and measurement validation, the focus of the quantitative analyses was to document the prevalence and severity of food insecurity and to assess the performance of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale within this understudied population. For example, Sheikomar et al. [52] validated the FIES across 19 countries in the League of Arab States using over 62,000 respondents, focusing on Rasch model fit, reliability, item functioning, and prevalence estimates rather than regression-based predictors of food insecurity. Despite the substantially larger sample size, the authors prioritized psychometric validation and descriptive characterization of food insecurity patterns, emphasizing measurement comparability across contexts. This approach underscores that Rasch modeling serves a distinct analytical purpose, establishing scale validity and meaningful severity thresholds. Following this established practice, our study similarly centers on validating the FIES within a hard-to-reach migrant population and describing the distribution and lived experience of food insecurity, rather than estimating predictive models that would be underpowered and potentially misleading given sample size and study design. Detailed descriptions of data collection procedures, survey instruments, Rasch diagnostics, and qualitative analysis are provided in Appendix A.

Results

This section presents findings that directly address the study’s research objectives and identified gaps: ‘’What is the prevalence and severity of food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul, and how is food insecurity experienced and structured in their daily lives?”. In line with established FIES applications that focus on scale validity and severity estimation, quantitative analyses were limited to descriptive statistics and Rasch modeling, as regression-based approaches are not central to psychometric validation and may yield unstable estimates in small, non-probability samples. Quantitative analyses thus focused on descriptive characterization and prevalence estimation of food insecurity, rather than hypothesis testing or causal inference. The focus of the quantitative component was to document the prevalence and severity of food insecurity and to assess the performance of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale within this understudied population rather than to estimate causal relationships. Rasch-based results are presented to establish the validity and severity of food insecurity measurement in this population, followed by qualitative findings that contextualize these quantitative patterns. Additional descriptive, exploratory quantitative, and qualitative findings, along with their corresponding explanations, are presented in Appendix B.

Prevalence and severity of food insecurity based on Rasch-calibrated FIES

This study addresses the lack of empirical evidence on the magnitude and severity of food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey. Based on the Rasch-calibrated Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), 35.1% of respondents were classified as experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity, and 21.7% experienced severe food insecurity during the previous 12 months. These prevalence estimates indicate a substantially higher burden of food insecurity than reported for the general population in Turkey and highlight the vulnerability of this under-researched migrant group in an urban, high-inflation setting. These Rasch-based prevalence estimates provide a standardized and internationally comparable measure of food insecurity severity, offering a robust empirical baseline for assessing food insecurity among migrant populations that are largely absent from national monitoring systems.

Measurement performance of the FIES

To address the absence of validated food insecurity measurement for Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey, the psychometric performance of the FIES was evaluated using Rasch modeling. Item severity estimates followed the expected order along the food insecurity continuum, and overall model reliability met the recommended threshold (≥ 0.70), indicating satisfactory internal consistency. This good overall reliability score indicates consistently ordered items among respondents, and that responses are related to respondents’ food security status. Most items exhibited acceptable infit and outfit statistics, suggesting that the FIES functioned reliably and established validity in this population (Table 1). Moreover, as expected under Rasch modeling, items reflecting more severe manifestations of food insecurity were affirmed by fewer respondents, while less severe items were affirmed by more respondents. This inverse relationship between item severity and affirmative responses indicates that the Food Insecurity Experience Scale functioned as intended, with item ordering appropriately reflecting increasing severity of food insecurity in this population (Table 1). Additional item-level statistics and diagnostic details are provided in Appendix B.

Table 1.

Rasch model item statistics for the food insecurity experience scale (FIES) among Sub-Saharan African migrants

	Severity	S.E.	Infit	S.E.Infit	Outfit	N_Yes_Compl	N_miss_if_any_valid
Worried	0.383	0.361	1.231	0.173	1.606	16.000	0
Healthy	0.499	0.366	0.683	0.177	0.565	15.000	0
Fewfood	-0.057	0.350	0.991	0.163	1.031	20.000	0
Skipped	-0.473	0.345	1.140	0.156	1.027	24.000	0
AteLess	-0.778	0.346	0.578	0.152	0.480	27.000	0
RunOut	0.740	0.377	0.842	0.187	0.696	13.000	0
Hungry	-0.473	0.345	0.742	0.156	0.643	24.000	0
WholeDay	0.160	0.354	1.718	0.167	2.222	18.000	0

Severity values are expressed in logits. Infit and outfit mean-square statistics indicate item fit to the Rasch model (acceptable range: 0.7–1.3). S.E. Standard Error

Table 2 presents item severity differences between the Istanbul sample and the global FIES reference scale, illustrating how food insecurity experiences are positioned relative to the global benchmark as part of the Rasch equating and validation process. Comparison with the global FIES reference scale revealed item-level deviations, with six of the eight items showing absolute differences greater than one logit. Items related to worry about food and ability to eat healthy and nutritious food were affirmed at more severe stages than expected relative to the global reference, while other items aligned more closely with global calibration. These item-level deviations suggest contextual differences in how food insecurity is perceived and reported among Sub-Saharan African migrants, underscoring the importance of combining standardized measurement with contextual interpretation.

Table 2.

Comparison of item severity parameters between Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul and the global food insecurity experience scale (FIES) reference

Worried	1.98
Healthy	1.84
Fewfood	0.99
Skipped	1.29
AteLess	1.23
RunOut	0.96
Hungry	1.70
Wholeday	1.56

Values represent differences (in logits) between the sample-specific and global FIES item severities. Positive values indicate items reported at more severe stages of food insecurity relative to the global reference

At the same time, the Rasch equating output also reports a value of − 10.8 for the common items, which represents an equating or calibration constant rather than a correlation or substantive effect size. This negative mean difference captures the overall displacement of item severity estimates between the study sample and the global reference and suggests a modest downward shift in severity thresholds, indicating that participants tended to report food insecurity experiences at slightly earlier stages than the global reference population. In the context of this study, this supports the interpretation that food insecurity was perceived and reported at relatively lower thresholds among this migrant population, while still allowing prevalence estimates to be compared with international benchmarks. In other words, this reported mean difference reflects the average displacement of item severity parameters between the sample-specific calibration and the global FIES reference scale, rather than a correlation coefficient or effect size. This statistic represents a scale location shift and should be interpreted as a calibration constant rather than as a substantive magnitude of difference. It does not indicate lack of comparability but highlights contextual variation in how food insecurity experiences are reported. Taken together, these findings indicate that while certain items are endorsed later due to contextual or cultural interpretation, the overall food insecurity scale reflects heightened vulnerability in this population, supporting both international comparability and context-sensitive interpretation. Further technical details are provided in Appendix B.

Thus, the Rasch analysis confirmed the validity and reliability of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) for use among Sub-Saharan African adults in this study. The model demonstrated acceptable infit and outfit statistics for all eight items and a reliability coefficient of ≥ 0.70, suggesting that item responses were internally consistent and reflective of participants’ food security status. The FIES met the assumptions of conditional independence and unidimensionality, indicating satisfactory psychometric performance. Approximately 35% of participants experienced moderate or severe food insecurity—considerably higher than the national average—indicating a disproportionately high burden within this group. Notably, item-level differences were observed between the Istanbul sample and the global FIES reference scale. The items worried and healthy showed large positive deviations (1.98 and 1.84 logits, respectively), suggesting that respondents tended to acknowledge these experiences only at more severe stages of food insecurity. Moreover, the overall negative mean difference of -10.8 across the common items captures the overall displacement of item severity estimates between the study sample and the global reference, and indicates a downward shift in severity thresholds, implying that participants generally reported food insecurity at slightly earlier stages than the global reference population. These findings suggest that while respondents may normalize early signs of food stress, they also experience a more rapid escalation once food insecurity becomes severe, reflecting both cultural interpretation and heightened vulnerability.

These results have significant implications for research and policy. First, they reaffirm that although the FIES is globally standardized, item interpretation can vary across cultural and migratory contexts, warranting careful calibration when comparing international prevalence estimates. Second, they reveal that Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey may underreport mild food insecurity while facing acute challenges during severe stages, underscoring the importance of context-sensitive instruments that capture migrants’ lived realities. In this respect, the qualitative findings add critical depth by illustrating how migrants interpret food insecurity, negotiate scarcity in everyday life, and experience the structural constraints that shape both reporting behavior and lived experience. Third, the observed differences between local and global reference scales highlight the necessity of complementing quantitative data with qualitative insights to better understand how migrants conceptualize and respond to food scarcity.

Lived economic and social mechanisms of food insecurity

The qualitative sample included four participants with diverse genders, countries of origin, education levels, and lengths of stay in Turkey. Qualitative findings provide insight into the economic and social mechanisms underlying the observed prevalence and severity of food insecurity and contextualizing the quantitative findings. Across interviews, food affordability rather than physical availability emerged as the dominant constraint on adequate nutrition. Participants consistently described rising food prices, stagnant or unstable incomes, and high housing and transportation costs as forcing daily trade-offs between food and other basic needs. As one participant lamented: “My only problem right now is the prices… food is getting expensive every day, and you cannot eat what you want. If things were affordable, everyone could enjoy life” (P3Woman). Another described the daily struggle to balance income with basic needs: “They pay 7000 TL; in 7000 TL you have to pay 2500 for rent, then there is transport, there is food… nothing is enough. You work, you eat, and you sleep. In Istanbul life [is] like this in these times” (P1Woman).

Barriers to stable employment—particularly language limitations and informal work arrangements—further exacerbated economic precarity and limited access to sufficient and nutritious food: “Language problems do not help with job opportunities… There is suffering here too, but not much like in my country.” (P2Man). Long working hours and physical exhaustion often led participants to rely on inexpensive, low-quality foods or to skip meals altogether: “When I come from work, if I have time, I cook. If not, I take some bread with it and eat the bread and sleep” (P1Woman).

Access to culturally familiar foods was described as especially constrained by cost. While some traditional foods were available in Istanbul, participants emphasized that they were largely unaffordable, leading to dietary compromises that affected both nutritional quality and cultural identity: “In Africa our food is very different from what’s here. Especially now that I am pregnant, I really crave African food, but I cannot get it… One plate in an African restaurant is very expensive” (P3Woman).

Social networks played a role in mitigating food-related difficulties. Participants described informal food sharing and mutual support within migrant communities. However, those with weaker social connections reported fewer coping options and greater vulnerability.

Given the small number of interviews, the qualitative component is presented as a focused inquiry intended to illustrate key mechanisms shaping food access among participants. These findings complement the quantitative results by providing insight into the everyday economic, employment-related, and social conditions associated with food insecurity. Additional details of the qualitative analysis are provided in Appendix B.

Integrated findings

Integrating the quantitative and qualitative findings provides a more comprehensive understanding of food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul. Quantitative results indicate a high prevalence of food insecurity, with more than one-third of respondents experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity. Rasch analysis confirmed that the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) performed reliably in this population while also revealing item-level deviations from the global reference scale, suggesting contextual differences in how food insecurity is perceived and reported.

Beyond documenting prevalence, the findings provide insight into the socioeconomic, cultural, and structural determinants shaping food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul. Socioeconomically, food insecurity emerged not from the absence of employment per se, but from income inadequacy within a high-cost urban context, where low wages, informal work, and inflation substantially constrained purchasing power. Structurally, migrants’ exclusion from formal labor protections, limited access to social assistance, and insecure legal status restricted their ability to translate employment into food security, reinforcing conditions of in-work poverty. Culturally, food insecurity was experienced not only as insufficient caloric intake but as restricted access to culturally familiar foods, which participants consistently described as available yet financially inaccessible. These findings indicate that food insecurity in this population is produced through the interaction of labor market precarity, migration governance, and culturally mediated food practices, rather than through food scarcity alone.

Qualitative narratives help explain these quantitative patterns by highlighting the structural and economic conditions shaping migrants’ food access. Participants consistently described economic hardship, unstable employment, and rising food prices as dominant constraints, which aligns with the high prevalence of food insecurity observed in the survey data. The Rasch finding that early-stage food insecurity items (such as worry about food) were affirmed only at more severe levels is reflected in qualitative accounts indicating normalization of food stress under chronic economic strain, where concern about food becomes salient only when deprivation intensifies.

Furthermore, qualitative findings shed light on dimensions not directly captured by prevalence estimates alone. Participants emphasized that access to food was constrained primarily by affordability rather than physical availability, particularly with respect to culturally familiar and traditional foods. This helps contextualize the Rasch item patterns related to food quality and dietary compromise and underscores how cultural food preferences intersect with economic barriers to shape food insecurity experiences.

Social networks and duration of residence emerged as important moderating factors in qualitative interviews, offering informal support and coping resources for some migrants. These narratives complement the quantitative evidence by illustrating mechanisms through which food insecurity may be mitigated despite persistent economic vulnerability. At the same time, uneven access to such networks helps explain why food insecurity remains prevalent even among individuals who report having an income.

Taken together, these findings demonstrate that food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey is not solely an economic outcome but the result of intersecting socioeconomic, cultural, and structural constraints that shape food access in everyday life. Qualitative narratives contextualize the quantitative findings by illustrating how food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul is shaped by intersecting economic pressures, labor market barriers, inflation, and social marginalization. The qualitative component of this study should be interpreted as a focused qualitative inquiry rather than a comprehensive qualitative investigation. The small number of interviews limits the breadth of perspectives and does not permit claims of thematic saturation. Instead, this illustrative exploration was intended to contextualize the quantitative findings by providing insight into the lived experiences and everyday challenges underlying observed patterns of food insecurity. Within the mixed-methods design, these narratives serve an explanatory role, complementing the quantitative results rather than standing as independent generalizable evidence.

Overall, the integrated findings demonstrate that food insecurity in this population is not solely a matter of income presence but reflects broader structural precarity, cost-of-living pressures, and social marginalization. The mixed-methods integration strengthens interpretation by linking measurement-based evidence of food insecurity severity with lived experiences that clarify how economic, cultural, and social factors interact in shaping food access among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey.

Discussion

This study examined the prevalence and lived experiences of food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul, Turkey, using a mixed-methods design. The findings highlight the economic and social vulnerabilities of this population in a context of rising food costs and inflation. According to the Turkey Nutritional and Health Research (TBSA) 2019 report, 23.4% of the general population reported difficulties in accessing sufficient food due to financial constraints, and 22.7% reported challenges maintaining a healthy diet [56]. Since then, the cost of healthy eating has continued to rise globally—by 6.7% in 2021—and Turkey has been particularly affected, with the cost of a healthy diet increasing from 2.873 PPP dollars per person per day in 2017 to 3.109 in 2021 [4]. The Turkish lira’s 30% depreciation in 2022, combined with the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, further exacerbated food inflation and eroded purchasing power, particularly for migrants who already experience social and economic marginalization [57, 68]. These macroeconomic conditions have intensified the risk of food insecurity among migrant households, who are often excluded from social safety nets and formal employment opportunities.

The study’s mixed-methods approach provided a more holistic understanding of these dynamics. Qualitative data revealed that economic hardship, unstable employment, and rising food prices were the primary barriers to adequate nutrition. Participants described coping strategies consistent with prior research—such as relying on cheaper or less preferred foods, reducing meal frequency, or limiting food waste—to stretch limited resources [25, 31]. The importance of social networks also emerged as a critical factor: community ties helped some migrants access informal food support, information, and emotional solidarity, echoing previous findings that social connectedness can buffer food insecurity [49]. However, not all migrants benefit equally, as those with limited social connections face heightened vulnerability. Future research should further investigate the structure and function of migrant social networks to identify how they can be better leveraged in policy and practice. On the quantitative side, the Rasch analysis supports the use of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) in this population, indicating acceptable measurement performance and internal consistency. The observed prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity—affecting approximately one-third of participants—suggests a disproportionately high burden among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul compared to the general population. Together, these findings indicate that the scale captures meaningful variation in food insecurity while underscoring the extent of vulnerability faced by this group.

Our findings, both qualitative and quantitative, align closely with the broader literature on food insecurity among migrant and refugee populations. The qualitative analysis results are consistent with previous studies emphasizing the central role of financial resources in ensuring stable food access [19, 24, 29, 31, 40, 45, 58]. Likewise, as we know, unlike Syrian refugees under temporary protection, most Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey do not benefit from protected legal status and therefore have limited or no access to the Turkish public healthcare system, and the lack of access to health services mirrors earlier findings linking poor health outcomes, nutritional deficiencies, and higher hospitalization rates to food insecurity [25, 41, 43, 59–64, 67]. In addition, our qualitative results echo the themes reported in prior research—migrants’ reliance on low-cost and less nutritious foods, meal skipping, and bulk purchasing as coping strategies under economic strain [25, 31]—and confirm that social networks serve as both protective and limiting factors for food access [49]. Taken together, these findings reinforce the extensive evidence that food insecurity among migrant groups is a multidimensional phenomenon shaped by intertwined economic, social, and health-related determinants, reflecting patterns consistently documented across diverse national contexts.

Importantly, although most participants reported having an income, this did not translate into food security, underscoring the role of income adequacy as a socioeconomic determinant rather than income presence alone. This pattern aligns with evidence on in-work poverty in Turkey, where employment does not necessarily protect against material deprivation. In 2016, Turkey’s in-work at-risk-of-poverty rate (13.5%) exceeded the EU average, with particularly high risks among informal and temporary workers, younger age groups, and individuals with low educational attainment [65], characteristics that closely resemble those of the study population. In-work poverty is especially pronounced among the self-employed, workers on temporary contracts, and those with low work intensity, reflecting the precarious labor market segments in which many migrants are concentrated. Qualitative findings further illustrate how low wages, informal employment, rising living costs, and inflation undermine purchasing power, leaving working migrants unable to meet basic food needs. For Sub-Saharan African migrants, these vulnerabilities are compounded by migration-related constraints such as limited access to formal employment, exclusion from social protection mechanisms, and insecure legal status. This pattern thus reflects broader structural dynamics in Turkey’s labor market, where migrants are disproportionately concentrated in informal, low-wage sectors that offer limited stability and no access to social protection. As a result, employment does not function as a protective factor against food insecurity, but instead reproduces economic vulnerability under conditions of rising food and housing costs. Therefore, income presence alone is insufficient to mitigate food insecurity when income adequacy is undermined by structural labor market precarity and rising living costs. Together, these findings suggest that food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul is best understood as a manifestation of structurally embedded in-work poverty shaped by labor market precarity and migration governance.

The findings suggest that food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul is driven less by physical availability of food and more by economic affordability and cultural accessibility, particularly regarding traditional foods. Participants consistently reported that culturally familiar foods were available in the city but priced beyond their reach, highlighting a gap that is not addressed by generic food assistance programs. Thus, the qualitative findings highlight the cultural dimension of food insecurity, which extends beyond affordability to encompass identity, dignity, and belonging, and which transforms food insecurity into a culturally mediated experience of exclusion rather than scarcity. This distinction is critical, as it reveals why generic food assistance programs may fail to address migrants’ lived realities when they overlook cultural food preferences and practices. This distinction further has important policy implications. Rather than focusing solely on food supply, interventions should prioritize cost-sensitive and culturally informed mechanisms, such as targeted food vouchers redeemable at ethnic food markets, partnerships with migrant-run grocery stores, or subsidies for culturally appropriate food items. In addition, the qualitative findings point to the importance of community-based coping strategies, including informal food sharing and reliance on social networks. These findings suggest that supporting migrant-led community kitchens, food cooperatives, or faith-based food initiatives could enhance food security while reinforcing social cohesion and dignity. Such initiatives may be particularly effective for non-Syrian migrant groups who are often excluded from formal social protection schemes in Turkey. These findings underscore the need for migrant-inclusive food policies that move beyond one-size-fits-all assistance and explicitly account for affordability, cultural food practices, and community-based resilience mechanisms. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul is not solely an individual or household-level condition, but a structurally produced outcome shaped by socioeconomic marginalization, cultural displacement, and restrictive migration and labor regimes.

This study contributes to the limited but growing body of evidence on Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey, a population that has received far less academic and policy attention than other migrant groups. Its mixed-methods design allowed for integration of quantitative and qualitative data, strengthening the validity of findings in a hard-to-reach population. Nonetheless, several limitations must be acknowledged. The use of self-reported survey data may have introduced recall and social desirability biases [66]. Although anonymity was ensured, respondents may have underreported food insecurity due to stigma or concerns about perceived consequences. Because the study focused on migrants living in Istanbul, results may not be generalizable to all Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey. In addition, the modest sample size constrains analytical depth and precision. Despite these limitations, this study provides valuable and original data on a hard-to-reach migrant population, offering rare insights into their food insecurity experiences. While certain methodological limitations were encountered during data collection, these do not detract from the overall contribution and significance of the findings. Therefore, the study offers novel insights into the socioeconomic, cultural, and structural dimensions of food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants. To our knowledge, this is among the first studies to investigate the prevalence and lived experiences of food insecurity within the Sub-Saharan African migrant population in Turkey. Future research should build on these findings by using larger, randomly selected samples and mixed-method designs to better capture the multifaceted nature of food insecurity.

Overall, the findings emphasize the urgent need for a comprehensive, multidimensional policy response to food insecurity that integrates economic, social, and cultural dimensions. Strategies should include targeted social protection programs for non-Syrian migrant groups, initiatives to improve access to affordable and culturally appropriate foods, and support for community-based networks that promote resilience. Continuous monitoring and tailored interventions are crucial to addressing the unique challenges faced by Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey and ensuring equitable food security for all populations.

Limitations and areas for further research

This study has several limitations that should be considered when interpreting the findings. First, the quantitative sample size was modest and limits the precision of food insecurity prevalence estimates as well as the statistical power for inferential analyses. Accordingly, prevalence figures should be interpreted as descriptive indicators of food insecurity severity within the study population rather than precise population estimates. The study was not designed to test hypotheses or estimate causal effects but to document the magnitude and experiential patterns of food insecurity among an understudied migrant group. These constraints are inherent to research involving hard-to-reach populations and are acknowledged explicitly in interpreting the findings. Second, the qualitative component was based on a small number of in-depth interviews and should be understood as a preliminary and illustrative exploration rather than a comprehensive qualitative investigation. While the interviews provided valuable contextual insight into migrants’ lived experiences, the study does not claim thematic saturation. Instead, the qualitative findings complement the quantitative results within the exploratory mixed-methods design, offering insight into the everyday mechanisms shaping food insecurity. These narratives serve an explanatory role rather than producing generalizable qualitative conclusions. Although comprehensive saturation cannot be claimed, the interviews generated sufficiently rich insights to illuminate key quantitative patterns. Nevertheless, future mixed-methods studies with larger and more diverse qualitative samples could further extend these findings. Third, participants were recruited through two community-based organizations using convenience sampling, a pragmatic approach for studying migrant populations with limited visibility in official data. While this facilitated access to a hard-to-reach group, it may introduce selection bias and limit generalizability to the broader population of Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey. Individuals not connected to such organizations may experience different levels or forms of food insecurity. Fourth, Rasch analysis was restricted to respondents with complete Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) data to ensure valid estimation of item and person parameters. Exclusion of 19 respondents may introduce bias if non-response was systematically related to food insecurity severity; however, this was necessary to preserve measurement validity. Findings from the Rasch model should therefore be interpreted as descriptive rather than representative. Fifth, reliance on self-reported data may have introduced recall or social desirability bias, particularly given the sensitive nature of food insecurity.

These limitations highlight the need for studies using larger, more representative samples, including probabilistic designs where feasible, to refine prevalence estimates and examine subgroup differences. Such designs would permit multivariable analyses to assess independent associations. Given the exploratory aims, modest sample size, and non-probabilistic sampling, multivariable regression was not conducted to avoid overfitting and unstable estimates.

Future research should also broaden qualitative inclusion to capture greater heterogeneity in migrant experiences, particularly among more vulnerable subgroups. Longitudinal and comparative studies are needed to assess how food insecurity evolves in relation to legal status, employment conditions, cost of living, and access to social protection. Integrating food insecurity measures into national migrant surveys would further support evidence-based policy development for underserved non-Syrian migrant populations in Turkey.

Conclusion

Despite the growing presence of Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey, empirical evidence on their food insecurity experiences remains limited, particularly studies employing validated, internationally comparable measurement tools and contextual qualitative analysis. Existing research in Turkey has focused largely on Syrian refugees or relied on indirect indicators of food access, leaving the severity, prevalence, and lived social and economic mechanisms of food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants insufficiently documented. Addressing this gap, the present study examines food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul by integrating Rasch-based analysis of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) with descriptive quantitative evidence and in-depth qualitative interviews to clarify underlying mechanisms of food insecurity and to provide both standardized and contextual insights into food insecurity in a high-inflation urban setting. This mixed-methods approach provides both measurement-based and experiential insights into how food insecurity is structured and experienced in a high-inflation urban context, offering evidence relevant for more inclusive food security policies and interventions in Turkey. By integrating these complementary approaches, the study contextualizes food insecurity within everyday lived realities.

The findings show that food insecurity is widespread and severe among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul, with more than one-third of participants experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity and over one-fifth experiencing severe food insecurity. Rasch analysis confirmed that the FIES performs reliably in this population, while also revealing item-level differences relative to the global reference scale, underscoring the importance of context-sensitive interpretation when applying standardized food insecurity measures to migrant groups. Qualitative findings contextualized these prevalence estimates by illustrating the economic and social mechanisms through which food insecurity is experienced. Participants consistently emphasized food affordability—rather than physical availability—as the primary constraint on adequate nutrition, shaped by rising food prices, unstable or low incomes, and limited access to formal employment. Barriers to accessing culturally familiar foods, health-related shocks, and uneven social support further structured food insecurity experiences, highlighting how economic precarity and social marginalization interact in migrants’ everyday lives.

The findings are interpreted through a socioeconomic, cultural, and structural lens to elucidate the mechanisms shaping food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Istanbul. From a socioeconomic perspective, food insecurity in this population is driven primarily by income inadequacy rather than the absence of income. Although many participants reported earning income, qualitative narratives reveal that informal employment, unstable wages, and high fixed expenses—particularly rent and transportation—substantially limit food affordability. Rising food prices further erode purchasing power, forcing migrants to rely on cheaper, less nutritious foods or to reduce meal quality and frequency. Cultural factors also shape food insecurity experiences. Participants emphasized that access to traditional foods was constrained not by physical availability but by cost, highlighting how culturally appropriate diets become unaffordable under economic strain. The inability to maintain familiar food practices contributed to dietary compromise and emotional distress, underscoring food insecurity as both a nutritional and cultural experience. At a structural level, food insecurity is mediated by limited access to formal social protection, language barriers, and legal and administrative constraints that restrict migrants’ engagement with stable employment and assistance programs. In this context, informal social networks emerged as a partial buffer, providing emotional support and occasional material assistance; however, reliance on such networks also reflects broader institutional gaps and uneven access to support.

Taken together, these findings contribute to the literature by providing measurement-based and experiential evidence on food insecurity among an understudied migrant population in Turkey. Rather than identifying causal determinants, the study offers a descriptive and exploratory account of food insecurity severity and its underlying mechanisms, laying a foundation for future research using larger and more representative samples. The results also point to the importance of food security interventions that consider affordability constraints, cultural food preferences, and social support structures when addressing food insecurity among non-Syrian migrant populations in Turkey.

Thus, this study provides novel and valuable evidence on food insecurity among Sub-Saharan African migrants in Turkey—an underrepresented and hard-to-reach population. These results confirm the broader evidence in the literature while offering a culturally contextualized understanding of how migrants experience and cope with food insecurity in an urban host setting. The study’s importance lies in its focus on a neglected migrant group within a country that hosts one of the world’s largest refugee populations yet lacks systematic data on non-Syrian migrants. By validating the FIES tool and integrating both quantitative and qualitative insights, this research contributes methodologically and empirically to the global discourse on migration and food security. It highlights the need to move beyond aggregate refugee statistics and to acknowledge the diversity of migrant experiences and vulnerabilities across different national and cultural backgrounds.

From a policy perspective, the findings emphasize that addressing food insecurity among migrants requires a multidimensional approach—one that combines economic empowerment with access to culturally appropriate, affordable, and nutritious food. Strengthening migrants’ access to stable employment, health services, and community-based food programs would not only improve well-being but also foster social inclusion and equity. Integrating Sub-Saharan African migrants into broader social protection mechanisms and food assistance initiatives in Turkey is essential to ensure that no group remains invisible in national food security policies.

Abbreviations

FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization

FI

Food Insecurity

FIES

Food Insecurity Experience Scale

IFAD

International Fund for Agricultural Development

IOM

International Organization for Migration

IRB

Institutional Review Board

PPP

Purchasing Power Parity

PSSN

Productive Social Safety Net

TBSA

Türkiye Beslenme ve Sağlık Araştırması

UNDP

United Nations Development Programme

UNHCR

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNICEF

United Nations Children’s Fund

WFP

World Food Programme

WHO

World Health Organization

Authors’ contributions

BTA contributed to *Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Writing – Original Draft, Project Administration,* and *Visualization.* She conceived and designed the study, coordinated all stages of the research, and conducted the quantitative and Rasch analyses. She was also responsible for data management, interpretation, and integration of all sections into the final manuscript.—SK contributed to *Investigation, Data Curation,* and *Writing – Review & Editing.* She coordinated survey implementation and participant recruitment, collected the quantitative and qualitative data, and assisted in developing the literature review and qualitative analysis.—SS contributed to *Supervision, Validation, Methodology,* and *Writing – Review & Editing.* She provided methodological oversight, contributed to the qualitative analysis, and offered continuous feedback and critical revisions to strengthen the conceptual and analytical quality of the manuscript.—All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Funding

This study is funded by Koç University and conducted over a period of one year. Koç University provided a number of voucher cards that are prepaid incentives that pay for participants to purchase 50 TL valued goods in Migros, supermarket chain in Turkey.

Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to the sensitive nature of the data but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Koç University with Protocol No. 2022.279.IRB3.118. All participants provided informed consent prior to participation. The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.