Determinants of seasonal food insecurity in the green famine belt of Ethiopia: The case of households in Belo-jiganfoy District, Benishangul-gumuz region

Abstract

Despite enormous body of literature on household food insecurity and its determinants in the non-green belt of Ethiopia, such a research is scanty or nonexistent in the ‘green famine’ belt.  The objective of this study was to examine factors determining household food insecurity in the ‘green famine’ belt of Ethiopia. Logistic regression model was employed to analyze the data collected through cross-sectional survey of 220 households selected from Belo-jiganfoy district. The study revealed that food insecurity was significantly determined by demographic, socioeconomic and technological factors. The effects of household size, participation in local labor unions and farming systems on food insecurity were positive while that of the use of extravagant consumption, small-scale irrigation, aggregate production, and education of household head were negative. Therefore, the study recommended that interventions should target at these most significant variables when attempting to build household resilience to food insecurity. Key words: Food insecurity, determinant, logistic model, ‘green famine’, Ethiopia.