Abstract:
The issue of ensuring food and nutrition security has become a global agenda, particularly for
low-income countries with high population growth rate. In Ethiopia, food insecurity and
undernutrition are worsening despite numerous policies and programmes geared towards
improving household calorie intake and access to nutritious foods. As a tool, understanding the
major causes of food and nutrition insecurity is important for interventions. Therefore, this study
was initiated to estimate food and nutrition security statuses of rural households, identify their
determinants, and measure the extent, prevalence and severity of food insecurity in Aysaita
district. The data for this study were collected from primary and secondary sources. Primary
data were collected from 300 randomly selected sample households by using a combination of
probability and non-probability sampling methods, focus group discussions, and key informants’
interview, whereas secondary data were obtained from reviewing related documents. In
analyzing the collected data, descriptive and inferential statistics as well as FGT index were
employed. Most importantly, bivariate probit model was used to identify the determinants of food
and nutrition security statuses. The finding of the study indicated that 41.67%, 32% and 19% of
the sampled households were food secured, nutrition secured, and both food and nutrition
secured, respectively. The food insecurity extent, gap and severity of the sampled households
computed using FGT indices were 58.33%, 15.02% and 5.31%, respectively. The results of the
bivariate probit model showed that, except sex of household head, variables such as, education
level, number of milking cows, cultivated land size, annual on-farm income, and participation in
off/non-farm activities had positive and significant effect on households’ food security status. On
the other hand, the probability of being nutrition secure was positively and significantly affected
by education level, livestock holding, size of cultivated land and annual on-farm income, while
livestock died in survey year and distance from home to the nearest market were the only
significant factors reducing the probability of being nutrition secure. The findings of the study
implied that the majority of households were food and nutrition insecure where its improvement
can be addressed through appropriate policy, institutional and technological option
