Food security status and its determinants in pastoral and agro-pastoral districts of Afar regional state, Ethiopia

Abstract

Food insecurity is a prime difficulty in Ethiopia. Food security policies and intervention mechanisms require empirical evidence on factors related to enhancement of food security. This study analyzed the determinants of households’ food security status in pastoral and agro-pastoral districts of Afar regional state. Multistage sampling technique was used to identify sampled households. The sample size of each kebele¹ was determined proportionally and selected 150 households. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Foster Greer Thorbecke index and multiple linear regression model. By taking 2100 kcal/AE/day as a cut-off point, 72.7% of the households were found food insecure. The results of multiple linear regression model indicated that family size (adult equivalent) and mothers’ time constraint have a significantly negative effect on food security status at less than 1%. Livestock ownership (TLU) and sex (male) have a significantly positive effect on food security status at less than 1% and 5%, respectively. Fundamentally, efforts from federal and regional government and other stakeholders are needed to improve livestock production, productivity and commercialization. Awareness creation of effective family planning via giving special attention to female-headed households is worthily helpful to maximize food security in the study area.

Keywords:

• Ethiopia
• food security
• Foster Greer Thorbecke index
• multiple linear regression

Acknowledgement

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Samara University for granting us the research fund. We also remain thankful to Mr. Jemal Yesuf, Mr. Teklegn, and Mr. Tesfu for their patience, commitment, and dedication in their assistance with data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Kebele is the smallest administrative hierarchy in Ethiopia. The country is a federal state of regions where every region is structured into zones; zones are divided into districts; every district is again divided into kebeles.

2 Refer to the tables in the Appendix to see how adult-equivalent, TLU, calorie content and VIF are calculated.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Samara University.