The Underlying Causes of Household Food Insecurity and Coping Strategies: The Case of Legambo Wereda, South Wollo Zone, Amhara Region, North Eastern Ethiopia
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Date
2000-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This stud), reports both theoretical and elllpirical fill dings all the underlying causes a/food illsecurity
alld households copillg strategies ill Legambo Wereda, South Wallo, one o( the chronically food
insecllre weredas o( the Alllhara regioll. Although the causes alld coping strategies of households
were 1I0t stlldied before, the stlldy wereda has been alld is being repeatedly affected by droughtinduced
food insecurity and the lIIajority of the households were and are exposed to lIIigration and
death and the remaining ones are depelldellt 011 food aid. ThIlS, the objective of this research was to
identifj; and allal),ze the ilia jar causes o.(food insecurity alld coping strategies o( hOllseholds durillg
food crisis in the wereda. The allalysis was lIIade using the household data collected Fom three
kebeles (Segnogebeya, Ertlleti, and Tach Akesta), that are representing difFerent agro-ecological and
production zones o./"the weredafor the year 1998/99.
Descriptive statistics on 1110 jar household characteristics (such as: size and age-sex distributioll,
depelldency ratio, fertility and mortality, lIIigration, ethnici'y alld language, religious culI/positioll,
marital alld literacy status) of the households were discussed. Moreover, the lIIajor activities o( the
households and major farm characteristics alld access to productive assets (.\"lIch as: farlll lalld, crop
productioll, farlll illputs alld extellsioll, draft anilllais alld farlll tools alld livestock productioll), alld
other variables (such as: non,(arlll opportunities, food aid, and coping strategies) were analyzed
based all prilllOl)! alld sOllie seCOlldOl)! data collected FOIII Federal, Regiollal alld local level offices
and informatioll obtained FOIi/ group discussions alld key informants. In additioll to food availability
calculatiolls used to lIIeasure the level of household's food security status, lillear regression analysis
was carried out.
The study result has showl/. that, il/ter alia, households with relatively hetter access to resources, HOI/farlll
incollle, urban center alld better copillg mechanisllls were proved to have relatively better food
security status than others. III the study wereda, relatively better of( households were observed in
wainadega agro-ecology thall those in dega areas.
As revealed by the sllldy results, more than 64 percent of the populatioll in the wereda was found to
be below the food poverty line. Overall, the stlldy populatioll fulfills only 87 percent (1553
Kcal/person/day) of their per capita caloric requirements /i-olll all available sources (including food
aid) at the lowest level of survival consllmption rate (which is 1785 Kcal/person/day). Food povert)l,
as fOllnd out Fom the study results is higltly correlated with agro-ecology, non-farlll access,
possession o( cultivable land and other productive assets such as oxen, family size and neamess to
urban centers. The OLS regression results, also revealed that among other variables, agro-ecology,
nOll-farm income, cultivated land and proximity to the wereda center were/ound out to have positive
coefficients and higltly significant (all significant at 99 percent confidence level) in determining
household's food security status. Hence, the underlying callses for household food insecurity are
found to be highly related with resource access, location, and non-farm opportunities.
It is, therefore, suggested that among other things, focus on family planning, diversifjling the rural
economy (particularly, by giving 1II0re emphasis to livestock and agro-forestl)l developlllent),
creating offfarm employment opportunities and backing up same of the traditionally known coping
mechanisms must receive policy atteJltion to reduce household food insecurity. Policy illstrumellts,
such as skill training and credit particlliariy payillg more emphasis to the dega areas could help
develop non,/ell'm income for food insecure households. Moreover a well deSigned and plallned
reselliement programmes should be seen as an illStrulllent for ensuring sustainable livelihood and
food security of the IIIOst vllinerable households in Legalllbo.
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Keywords
Food Insecurity, Coping Strategies