Assessing the Status of Food Security in Face of Climate Change and Variability: the case of Choke Mountain Watershed, Eastern Gojjam zone, Ethiopia.
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Date
2013-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The main objective of this paper was assessing the status of food security in the face of climate
change and variability in Choke moumain watershed. 100 sample households from five AESs were
included in the sampling frame. Household survey, focus group discussion, key informant interview
and direct observation were held for collecting data. Basic descriptive statistics were used for
assessing quantitative data. HFBM and HFIAS were used to determine food availability and
accessibility of sample households respectively. The result of the study indicates 56.0% of
households are food insecure and the remaining 44.0% are food secured. The prevale/7ce of food in
security is more persistent in lowland and valley (AES1) and hilly and mountainous (AES5)
respectively. Food insecure households have large number of family, small number of livestock, low
level of land size ownership, low fertility status and low productivity of cultivated land with sloppy
and hilly mountainous slope. Agricultural productivity varies from one agroecosystem to the other
due to its climatic condition. Both temperature and rainfall vmy across all AESsfrom 1981- 2008
and the result shows average temperature increase in all sample AESs except AES1 while in the
remaining AESs increase. Whereas, annual rainfall increase in all AESs except AES2. In line with
this, the study examined climatic and related factors of food production. Farmers reported that:
Erratic rain fall, dependency on single harvest, drought, land degradation, pest and weed
infestation, lack of non-farm activity and lack of access farm credit are the more severely
constraints in self sufficiency in food production. However the severity of all the factors was not
equal in all AESs. The study also shows that, there is a statistical systematic difference between
food secured and insecured households and utilization of modern farm inputs (chemical fertilizer,
pesticides, improved seed and irrigation) except the use of improved seed. Decline in water quantity
and quality and prevalence of disease are also the effect of climate change and variability in the
study area. AES1 is most vulnerable by malaria and AES1 and AES5 are food insecured. Thus, food
security interventions need to support livelihoods in ways that protect and buffer the natural
resilience of households, and providing direct assistance to ensure that households remain resilient
to the fragile and variable situations in which they exist.
Key words: Food security, climate change, agriculture, agroecosystem.
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Keywords
Food security, climate change, agriculture, agroecosystem