Food Security and Livelihood Challenges of Urban Refugees in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2020-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study was aimed at investigating food security and livelihood challenges of refugees. A
retrospective cross-sectional study design was employed, and questionnaire-based primary
data was collected from 202 sample households. In addition, key informant interview and
focus group discussions were used. Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS),
Sustainable Livelihood Framework and Coping mechanism were used to achieve the food
security status, livelihood availability and challenge as well as the way the urban refugees
cop up in times of difficulty respectively. The data was managed and analyzed using
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v20). Results were presented using tables. The
results showed that the main income source of respondents was remittance (35%), earnings
from casual labor (24.3 percent), revenues from small businesses (23.7 %). The challenges
faced by the refugees were the lack of working permits (36.7%) as the main challenge
followed by lack of job opportunities (24.9%), lack of experience (13.6) was rated as the third
challenge. 67% of the study households were food secure while 22% mildly food insecure and
9% of them were moderately food insecure. The findings also showed that frequently adopted
coping mechanisms such as reduce the number of meals eaten in a day (78.6%), less
preferred and less expensive foods (62.7%), limit portion size at mealtimes (60%) and borrow
food or rely on help from a friend or relative (35%) to manage food shortages. More than 30
thousands refugees live in Addis Ababa but the Government of Ethiopia restrict their right to
work, hence the urban refugees often depended on informal economy livelihoods and
struggle to secure their food requirement. Finally, it is recommended that policy
implementation and improvement is needed. Jobs and livelihoods interventions also need to
be better coordinated and guided by government to set out procedures and standards for
developing employment opportunities for refugees.
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Keywords
Urban Refugees, Food Security, Livelihood, Coping Mechanism, Addis Ababa