DETERMINANTS OF FOOD INSECURITY AND COPING STRATEGIES AMONG HOUSEHOLDS IN THE SUBURBS OF DESSIE TOWN, AMHARA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The dramatic horizontal expansion of towns in the developing world has brought an increasing challenge of urban food insecurity. However, food security initiatives have usually targeted rural areas. The aim of the study was to assess the status, extent, determinants of food insecurity and coping style of food insecure households in the Suburbs of Dessie town thereby employing multi stage sampling procedure to draw 202 sample households randomly. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources using semi-structured interview schedule, Focus Group Discussion, key informants and by reviewing documents. Data were analyzed using household caloric acquisition, descriptive statistics, Foster, Greer and Thorbeke (FGT) model and binary logit regression model. As a result, 57% and 43% of the sample households were found to be food secure and food insecure with the mean caloric energy of 3800.2 and 1833.1 Kcal /day/AE respectively. The gap and severity of food insecurity were 7.6% and 3.2% respectively. The t- test and chi-square test result revealed a significant difference between the food secure and food insecure households in terms of demographic, economic and institutional variables in the study area. Nine out of sixteen variables were significant in the model estimation. Household size, dependency ratio, involving in informal income source and the displacement condition of households were found endorsing household food insecurity whereas being female headed household, income, remittance income, numbers of total earners and saving account ownership were found reducing food insecurity. High price of food items was ranked as the first cause of food insecurity followed by unemployment rate and climate variability. The households respond to food insecurity differently at initial and severe stages. The most frequently employed coping strategies by food insecure households were reducing the quantity and frequency of meal, shifting to cheaper food items, borrowing, selling assets and searching additional work. Thus, enhancing livelihood diversification, properly targeting displaced households, limiting population growth and reducing the dependency syndrome on remittance by investing to other income activities are important issues to combat food insecurity in the study area.