Determinants of Urban food security status at household level: The case of Bahir Dar and Gondar Cities of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

Despite its growing relevance and far-reaching implications, urban food security has received little attention from the government of Ethiopia. Culturally, food insecurity is commonly expected in rural households. However, it is considerable in urban settings too, which has been hardly recognized in the study area. The general objective of this study was to identify factors determining household food security in urban areas. The study relied on survey data from 365 systematically selected urban household heads. Key informant interviews and FGDs were employed to supplement the structured questionnaire. The binary logistic regression model was used to identify determinants of household food security. The study revealed that only 31% of married households were food insecure, contrary to 80% of single-headed ones. Besides, food insecurity is most prevalent among private house renters, 83%, as opposed to 28% who own their houses. The Foster-Gordon-Thorbecke model revealed that food insecurity’s incident, depth, and severity were 54%, 15%, and 5.6%, respectively. This implies that if the regional government can mobilize to cover 15% of the caloric needs of food-insecure households, it can bring them up to the recommended daily caloric requirement so that food insecurity can be eradicated. At P < 0.05, the binary logistic regression model indicated that sex, house ownership, income, marital status, remittances, and credit services were significant drivers of household food insecurity. The particular characteristics and drivers of urban food security and the vast inequalities within metropolitan regions necessitate customized programs and policies that address the needs of the urban poor. The study recommended that private, government, and NGOs be actively involved and provide top and urgent priority to increase the income-generating capability, stabilize skyrocketing prices, build communal housing, and provide loans with affordable interest rates.

Keywords:

• Food in/security
• house ownership
• income
• marital status
• Urban household
• Binary Logistic Regression
• Foster-Greer-Thorbecke index

Public Interest Statement

Urban Ethiopia is increasing in multiple forms: population growth, the number and densification of big cities, and urban land expansion. People from the rural sector migrated to the urban sector for a livelihood because of higher employment opportunities, higher wages, better lifestyles, etc., in urban areas, which attract more firms and people towards urban areas.

However, urban food security is becoming an emerging development concern, fundamentally different from food security questions within the rural and agricultural sectors. Yet little is known about the status and determinants of food insecurity in emerging cities like Bahir Dar and Gondar of the Amhara region. Therefore, the study helps development practitioners and policymakers to quantify the challenge and proactively plan the long and short-term plans to reduce the food gap in those emerging regional urban areas.

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Tesfamaryam, Dr. Cherie, Ass professor Mulualem and Anteneh Mekuria for their unreserved support and assistance throughout the paperwork.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

All authors have read and approved the final manuscript

Ethical Statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the DebreTabor University [-]; Bahir Dar University [-].

Notes on contributors

Dersolegn Mekonen

Dersolegn Mekonen Geleta. I have received my BA from Addis Ababa University and my MA in Geography and Environmental Studies from Bahir Dar University. I am a lecturer at Debre Tabor University in the Faculty of Social Science and the Department of Geography and Environment. I present award-winning papers such as the first African graduate scholars conference organized by Bahir Dar University (2020).

I have also participated in the Annual National Conference of the Institute of Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Studies at Bahir Dar University, 2023, and the International Conference on Water, Energy, and Food Security organized by Florida International University (2022) to mention a few. Dersolegn’s research focuses on rural and urban livelihood, food security, poverty, and population-related issues. This manuscript is the result of one of the objectives of my dissertation.

Arega Bazezew Berlie

Arega Bazezew is my principal and internal advisor; he is a Professor and got his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in 2013 from South Africa. He is a senior lecturer, researcher, and advisor at Bahir Dar University, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies. He published many articles on Livelihoods, Food security, Vulnerability, Climate change, and Drought.

Tesfahun Kassie

Tesfahun Kassie is my co-advisor; he is an Assistant Professor and got his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in 2017 from Bahir Dar University. He is a senior lecturer, researcher, and advisor at Bahir Dar University, Institute of Disaster Risk Management, and Food Security Studies. He published many articles on Disaster, Vulnerability; Resilience, Urban Risk; Livelihood vulnerability; Food Security.