Determinants of Rural Female Headed Household’s Vulnerability to Food Insecurity; A Case of Omonada District, Jimma Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

The objective of the study is to examine the determinants of rural female-headed household’s vulnerability to food insecurity: A case of Omonada District, Jimma Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. For the purpose of the study, primary data was collected from the sample of 200 female headed households in the study area. The study used seven variables namely; family size. family labor, level of education, distribution of family dependency, source of income, farm land size and livestock production. Descriptive statistics was employed to analyze the data. The research result shows that variables such as family size, number of dependent family members, and age of the female-head of the households have direct relationship with food insecurity of FHHs while education level, land holding size, family labor, source of income and livestock production have negative relationship with food insecurity. The annual mean income of female-headed households was analyzed to evaluate the status of female-headed households’ food insecurity. The main source of income for rural female headed households were farm activities and non-farm activities, like working as daily laborer, selling fire wood and involvement in petty trade. The annual mean income of non-farm activities is lower (ETB 1313.96) when compared with farming income (ETB 1751.08) for female-headed households in the study area. The study recommends that government should increase family planning scheme in the study area. It also has to promote formal and non-formal education for FHHs to improve their food security. Moreover, policies that encourage income source diversification and access to land for FHHs has to be designed and implemented.