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Although unemployment is often associated with food insecurity, the paths through which it leads to food insecurity is less explored. This study investigates the effects of unemployment on food insecurity based on data collected from 410 randomly selected households in Addis Ababa and the Munessa district of Arsi Zone. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the data. The results show that 55.9 percent of the respondents were unemployed and only 12.4 percent of the households were food secure. The prevalence of food insecurity was higher among households headed by unemployed persons. Education and economic factors are the mechanisms through which unemployment leads to food insecurity. Lack of education reduces the chance of employment and the quality of jobs engaged in whilst the economic path to food insecurity is partly related to the inability of poor households to cope with soaring food prices and seasonal unemployment. Thus, increasing employment opportunities through pro-poor measures is a means to enhance human capital development that helps the people take advantage of the labour market and improve the economic status of households, ultimately leading to ensuring food security.

Background: Despite several efforts made so far to improve the overall food insecurity situation, the challenge is still a major problem in Ethiopia since a long time ago. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the food insecurity situation and identify the determinants among the rural households of Boset district. To this end, 397 household heads were selected through systematic sampling technique from six sample kebeles. In addition, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and personal observations were also used to supplement the survey data. Then, the food insecurity status of households was measured with a suite of indicators. Results:The results revealed that 26.5%, 21.7%, and 41.3% of respondents were highly food insecure through Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning, Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, and Household Dietary Diversity Score, respectively. On top of these, 56.9%, 46.1%, and 64.0% of the respondents did not have access to water supply, not owned latrine, and dispose waste in an unsafe way, respectively. Furthermore, results from the inferential statistics showed that educational status, farmland size, total annual income, distance from health facilities, and the availability of supporting organizations were positively associated with household food security situation, while access to irrigable land, frequent drought, distance to input/output markets, and distance to road transport were negatively associated. Conclusion:From the study findings it can be observed that all the dimensions of food (in)security should be focused for effective intervention. More specifically, those determinants with both positive and negative associations with food security may deserve the attention of the local authorities. Similarly, there is a need for a reorientation of an approach which is beyond a quick and simple fix. Besides, an integration of efforts between different sectors at both local and national levels is sought to bring a lasting solution to food insecurity.

This paper, based on qualitative research within two communities in Addis Ababa, identifies factors that impoverish households and expose them to chronic food shortages, and assesses their coping and survival strategies. A sustainable livelihood framework is used to explore how context, shocks, assets, institutions, activities and strategies interact in multiple ways to affect wellbeing and food security. Households were found to be vulnerable to a range of environmental factors and economic shocks, including poor sanitation, unhygienic environments, overcrowding, unemployment and limited access to financial capital. Their survival strategies include diversification of sources of income, living in slum areas and migration of household members.

This study deals with the spontaneous spreading of stone bunds in the central Ethiopian highlands, i.e., the adoption and implementation of stone bunds by farmers on their own initiative. The study tests the hypothesis that spontaneously implemented stone bunds, as compared to stone bunds implemented by mass mobilization campaigns, are more integrated with other land management practices and lead to higher yields. Data are collected in the Girar Jarso woreda through field observations and household surveys. Descriptive statistics are used to analyze and test the data at 1% and 5% probability levels. Results show that stone bunds are spontaneously implemented mainly on farmlands located nearby the homesteads where farmers perceive severe erosion, poor soil fertility and steep slope gradients. Compared to stone bunds implemented by mass mobilization, spontaneously implemented stone bunds are perceived as better maintained, more frequently modified to fit the farming system and better integrated with soil fertility management practices, such as applying fertilizer, compost and manure. Particularly, this better integration with other practices is very important, because it makes stone bunds more effective in reducing erosion, leading to beneficial effects on soil moisture and soil productivity, as perceived by farmers. The study, therefore, suggests that the mass mobilization campaign should use a more participatory and integrated approach, in which there is ample space for awareness raising and learning concerning the benefits of integrated farm management, and in which farmers themselves have a leading role in the decision on where to construct stone bunds. Such a strategy will lead to more sustainable impact on soil fertility and food security than the current top-down intervention approach.