The status and determinants of rural household food insecurity in North Shewa Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

Food insecurity and under nutrition are significant challenges to the economic growth of Ethiopia. The objectives of this study were to identify the status and determinants of food insecurity for households targeted under a productive safety net program. About 392 beneficiary households were selected using multistage random sampling methods. The household food balance model and multiple linear regression models were used to measure household food insecurity levels and identify factors affecting food insecurity. According to the food balance model output, all sample households targeted under the program were food insecure. This revealed that the total daily energy available to the sample households was less than 2100 kcal per adult equivalent. Moreover, the multiple regression model output depicts that family size, sex of the respondents, total farm owned by the respondents, livestock size, credit utilization, household participation in community organization, household access to off/non-farm income, and household access to saving habit had a significant effect on food insecurity status of households. Therefore, in order to reduce the food insecurity status of households policymakers should focus on strengthening household saving habits, expanding off/non-farm activities, promoting family planning, and strengthening the credit services.