DETERMINANTS OF HOUSEHOLD FOOD INSECURITY IN MERTI WOREDA OF ARSI ZONE OROMIA REGION

Abstract

A better understanding of factors affecting the status of food security is required for the organization of technical research, the development of policies and for shaping the direction of action for food self-sufficiency. Consequently, this study is expected to generate ideas that would be useful to reveal the seriousness of the problem and identify the determinants of household food insecurity. Primary data were collected from sample respondents through personal interview using structured questionnaire. The study was also supplemented by secondary data collected from various sources. Data on demographic, socioeconomic and biophysical characteristics of the sample respondents were presented, organized and discussed using various tools of both descriptive statistics and econometric analyses. Attempts were made to look in to the specific characteristics of the food secure and food insecure groups using T-test (tests of significance). Binary logit model was used to identify the continuous and discrete potential variables capable of affecting the food security status in the woreda. The mode results reveal that among 10 explanatory variables included in the logistic model, 8 were found to be significant in the woreda. These significant variables include family size (FASZ), dependency ratio, (DPR) cultivated land size (CLSZ), livestock ownership (TLU) number of ox owned (NUOXEN), amount of credit received(CREDIT), income from shoat (SHOAT), and off farm income (OFFINC). Thus, identifying analyzing, and understanding those elements that are responsible for household food security in places like Merti woreda needs urgent research undertakings and the results are believed helps to guide policy decisions, appropriate interventions and integrated efforts to combat food security at the district and household levels. Therefore, consideration of determinants of food insecurity of the households is important because it provides information that would enable to undertake effective measures with the aim of improving household livelihoods in general and food security in particular