The Status of Household Food Insecurity: The Case of West Belesa, North Gondar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

The vast majority of extraordinarily poor households live in rural areas that are heavily reliant on rain fed agriculture. In Ethiopia, the Amhara region in particular, has been prone to much suffering in the past, and was one of the hardest hit areas. Different projects and programs were designed and implemented to reduce household food insecurity. However, the effect of the program whether household food insecurity is reduced or not was not yet assessed in these areas. This is therefore, to investigate the current food insecurity status of different households and the determinant factors that affect household food insecurity in the study area. A multi stage sampling method was employed to select 120 respondents from West Belesa Woreda and structured survey questionnaire was designed to collect quantitative data. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and econometric model. From the study it was found out that about 35.8% of the respondent households were food insecure and the remaining 64.2% of them were food secure that indicated the reduction of food insecurity status of the people in the study area. Among the different variables hypothesized to affect household food insecurity; family size, total income, distance from market, total livestock holding and losses of crops were found to be significant variables to affect household food insecurity. It can be concluded that because of the intervention of many projects and programs the food insecurity status of the woreda was reduced to 35.8 %. This indicates that the efforts done by the government and non-governmental organizations before the study year were somehow successful. Therefore, Governmental and Non-governmental organizations still have to work more to minimize the food insecurity status of West Belesa in particular and drought prone woredas of the region in general

Analysis of Causes and Coping Strategies of Food Insecurity: The Case of Central and North Gondar Zone, Ethiopia

“…The chi-square test revealed that there was an association between food security status and sex of household and was statistically significant at p ≤ 0.01. The finding was consistent with the empirical findings of Yehuala et al (2018). According to a study conducted in South Africa by Sekhampu (2013), the female-headed households had better food security than the male-headed households due to the small size of family members that existed in a femaleheaded household.…”

“…The finding was coherent with the research finding of WFP ( 2019), and Abafita and Kim (2014) stated that literate households were better off, in terms of food security, as compared to households that were illiterate. However, it was not consistent with the findings of Yehuala et al (2018).…”

A data‐driven approach to mitigating food insecurity and achieving zero hunger: A case study of West African countries

“…In an attempt to investigate the triggers of food insecurity, different methods have been employed (Crush et al, 2012; Frongillo et al, 2019; Fyles & Madramootoo, 2015). Some studies have employed a single equation model (Denny et al, 2018; Hadley et al, 2019; Magaña‐Lemus et al, 2016) whiles others have used other econometric techniques to justify this relationship (Burkhardt et al, 2012; Kebede et al, 2016; Yehuala et al, 2018). Our method sought to develop and utilize a high degree of accuracy modeling and food insecurity forecasting approach not based on assumptions and scenarios that can predict food insecurity for the long‐term.…”

Unravelling the Proportion of Food Expenditure and Energy Consumption on Food Security: Evidence from Smallholders’ Clove Farmers in Indonesia

“…According to Niankara (2023), the more the number of family members, the greater the need for food and the lower the level of food security. Several studies have shown that households with fewer members had better food security than households with a greater family members (Endale et al, 2014;Welderufael & Welderufael, 2014;Yehuala et al, 2018;Sani & Kemaw, 2019;Mabuza & Mamba, 2022). .…”