DETERMINANTS OF FOOD SECURITY IN THE RURAL HOUSEHOLDS OF MESKAN WOREDA, GURAGE ZONE, SNNPR, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The study was conducted has the main objective of identifying the major factors that influence food insecurity in the rural households of Meskan Woreda, Gurage Zone, SNNPR State, Ethiopia which was held from February, 2014 to May, 2014. In order to achieve this objective, demographic and socio-economic data were collected from 120 randomly selected farm households in the selected three Kebeles of Meskan Woreda namely Beresa, Dubo Tuto and Semen Shereshera. A purposive sampling method was employed to select the sampling units. A survey was conducted to collect the primary data from the sampled farmers in the study areas through administering a structured questionnaire to rural households to gather qualitative and quantitative data pertaining to household demographic characteristics and related issues about the farm household in a specific period. And also a secondary data from various sources and personal observation were conducted. Both the descriptive and econometric methods of analysis were employed to analyze the collected data. A household total expenditure per adult equivalence was used to assess the current status of household food insecurity. In order to investigate the effect of each predictor variable on the household food security status a bivariate analysis was performed. Among the econometric method of analysis a logistic regression model was fitted to analyze the potential variables affecting household food insecurity in the study area. The descriptive analysis result revealed that about 102 (84.91%) of the households were found to be food insecure while 18 (15.01%) were food secure. Moreover, the logistic regression model estimate correctly predicted (84%) of the sample cases, (88.9%) food secure and (96.4%) food insecure. Among the 10 variables included in the logistic model, 8 of them were significant at less than 10% probability level. These are age of the households head, family size, number of livestock owned, number of oxen, farm land size, use of fertilizer, off-farm income per adult equivalence and farm credit. On the other hand, limiting size and frequency of food, borrowing and gifts from relatives and friends, selling of livestock, selling of firewood, off-farm income, cash for work and relief assistance as the main coping strategies practiced in the study area. Finally, limiting population size, promoting and expanding off-farm income generating schemes, improving the livestock production and productivity, access to credit and agricultural inputs like chemical fertilizer and improved seeds with market functioning were recommended.