Teferi Mekonnen (PhD, Associate Professor)Temesgen Tilahun (PhD, Assistant Professor)Abinet Fulasa2024-01-222024-01-222023-06-30https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/1444In broad sense, migration by no means is a new phenomenon in scientific studies in Ethiopia. However, most previous studies that have been conducted are scanty in linking return migration, livelihoods, and food security in Addis Ababa that made evidence remained inconclusive requires basic understanding where opportunities for interventions lie to protect the returnees against the adverse socio-economic consequences. This dissertation thus, was an endeavor made to eloquently shed light on the determinants of irregular cross-border migration, return decisions, and the livelihoods and food security situations of emigration returnees in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Both the constructivist and the interpretivist research paradigms were employed. A “Concurrent Embedded Research Design Approach” was used as the primary design of the study. Both probability and nonprobability sampling techniques were used to determine the participants of the study. A crosssectional study was conducted on sample of 402 returnees selected from Addis Ababa using a simple random sampling method. Survey questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews were used to collect data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data to limit generalization to the group observed and to draw conclusions about the population based upon observations of samples respectively. Moreover, household food insecurity access scale, food consumption score, household hunger scale, household dietary diversity score, and coping strategy index were employed as the proxy indicators of food security. The study elucidated that the corresponding relative strengths of the pull factors outweigh that of the push factors to make irregular cross-border migration decision; nonetheless, the decision to migrate was impacted by situations in both the destination and the origin areas. Destination area factors had more substantial positive impact with the values of (β = 4.451, Exp (β) = 85.70) than homeland and personal factors with the values of (β = 3.242, Exp (β) = 25.58; and β = 2.211, Exp (β) = 9.12) respectively, despite, all the three factors have a positive effect on likelihood of making return migration decision at (P<0.001) The study unveiled that the magnitude of access to livelihood capitals among the returnees is deemed to be very minimal and significant gender variation wasn’t observed between male and female returnees. The study population was hallmarked by poor prevalence of food security, poor level of access to food, poor food consumption patterns, and insufficient level of dietary diversity in their consumption. Therefore, well-intentioned efforts are required rather than a piecemeal approach in a business-as-usual manner to address the multiple burdens of migration and thereby building sustainable livelihoods of the emigration returnees.enCapitals; food security; irregular migration; livelihoods; return migration; returneesThesis