Abstract:
Ethiopia is one of the most vulnerable countries of the world to the impacts of climate
change and variability. However, this study took Mirab Badawacho woreda as a case
and analyzed changes in local climate; status of household food security; and
household level determinants of food security. Qualitative and quantitative
methodologies have been employed. Socio-economic data were collected from three
rural Kebeles of Mirab Badawacho Woreda. A total of 281 sample households were
selected from three kebeles through systematic random sampling by probability
proportional to size sampling technique. Twenty five years climate data were
collected from National Meteorological Agency of Hawassa branch. INSTAT+3.37
version software and Mann-Kendall trend test was employed to process the data. The
results of the study revealed that the annual mean temperature over Mirab
Badawacho Woreda was 21.40C, showing an increasing trend by 1.75
0C/year and
average annual rainfall was 1253mm/year, showing a decreasing trends by
13mm/year in the last twenty five years. The mean annual maximum and minimum
temperature in the study area was 26.20C and 13.40C, respectively. Moreover, the
Household food balance model showed high prevalence of food insecurity in the
study area of which 56.9% were food insecure and 43.1% were food secure
households. The binary logit model estimation result revealed the important factors
determining household food security. These are education status of household heads,
health status of household heads, off farm activities, soil and water conservation,
access to irrigation, drought-tolerant seeds, land ownership, and livestock ownership
significantly and positively affected household food security whereas age of
household heads, dependency ratio, family size and distance to the market center
significantly and negatively affected household food security.
