Indigenous cultural values and behavioral mechanisms shaping household food security in semi-arid Indonesia

Semi-arid regions have dual challenges of food shortages and climatic vulnerability; nonetheless, the adaptive function of indigenous cultural systems remains inadequately examined in Southeast Asia. This study identifies three primary gaps: ambiguous evidence regarding the influence of local culture on food security, the inadequate applicability of Western individualistic motivational frameworks in collectivist indigenous settings, and a lack of understanding they interplay between cultural resources, farmers� behavioral orientations, and food security outcomes. Using an explanatory survey approach and structural equation modeling we analyzed data from Atoin Meto maize-farming households in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The findings demonstrate that local cultural resources correlate favorably with farmers� motivation and attitudes, as well as with perceived household food security, which is assessed as a multidimensional construct consistent with the FAO�s four-pillar framework (availability, access, usage, and stability). These associations with the primary result remain stable across sensitivity analyses incorporating essential socioeconomic factors, reinforcing the robustness of the fundamental food security linkages. Comparisons across multiple groups indicate that cultural linkages are more significant in geographically distant communities than in nearby ones, aligning with distance-related restrictions as a contextual factor. This study integrates Koentjaraningrat�s cultural framework, ERG theory, and the Theory of Planned Behavior to demonstrate how indigenous institutions (tmeup tabua, lopo, and ume kbubu) might enhance behavioral and socioeconomic strategies to bolster food security in semi-arid environments. While this result are compelling the should be interpreted with caution due to the cross-sectional, self-reported design and the potential presence of unobserved structural factors; future research should incorporate objective indicators and longitudinal or multi-source designs to strenghten causal inference and external validity. © The Author(s) 2026.