Demographic and Socio- Economic Determinants of Household Food Poverty in Addis Ababa, the Case of Akaki - Kaliti Sub-City
No Thumbnail Available
Files
Date
2019-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
High rates of unemployment resulting from sluggish economic growth and low level of
investment in urban centers combined with high population growth has negatively affected
income earning potentials of urban residents. Even though there is long-held belief that urban
population is better off, or even favored than rural populations, recent food and financial crises
have highlighted the problem of urban food poverty in developing countries. Hence, the overall
objective of this study was to assess the demographic and socio-economic determinants of food
poverty among households in Akaki-kality Sub-city. To do so, socio- economic and demographic
data obtained from Akaki- kality Sub-city Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) office were
used. Foster, Greer and Thorbeck distributional measure of food poverty was employed to
estimate head count ratio (food poverty situation) , food poverty gap and to assess the severity of
household food poverty while econometric analysis was used to identify determinates factors of
food poverty in within Sub-city. Several explanatory variables were considered including
household size, dependency ratio, age of household head, sex of household head, marital status,
education of household head, access to credit, health of household head and household food
expenditure and food poverty as dependent variable. As the head count index shows 20.30 % of
the total households are below the food poverty line. The food poverty gap and severity were 5 %
and 1.9 %, respectively. The result of the regression model estimate indicates that out of the 9
factors included, five were found to have significant influence on the probability of being food
poor at less than 5 % significance level. Urban population will continue to grow with its
associated problems unless meaningful development interventions backed by research findings
are undertaken. Further, efforts need to be made to improve the income earning capacity of
households, education level with particular focus on vocational training, reduce family size with
a view to reducing their dependency ratio and saving and credit access to enable them cope with
food poverty