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The Urban Food Agenda echoes the importance of improving food security in the urban space and food security remains central in the United Nation Development Agenda (2030) as highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs 2). Nonetheless, urban food security remains the less researched topics in Eswatini, and in southern Africa in general. This study investigated the levels of food insecurity in the low income households of Msunduza in Mbabane, Eswatini. It further captured the food (in)security determinants and the coping strategies employed by Msunduza residents to deal with food shortages. Data was collected from 91 heads of households, selected through systematic sampling procedure. The results reveal that majority of households in Msunduza are food insecure, with a larger proportion in the mildly food insecure category. Household income, household size, education level and employment status, as well as gender of the household head were found to be among the key determinants of food (in)security in the area. In cases of food shortages, households in the informal settlement of Msunduza employ different coping strategies which include reducing food intake (size of meals), begging, settling of household asserts and skipping of meals, among others. The paper recommended that food security interventions be considered for low income urban households, more particularly female headed households which tend to be more vulnerable to food insecurity.

Although significant progress has been made in recent decades to reduce food insecurity in developing countries, a larger percentage of the peri urban population still experiences food insecurity. The peri urban poor, as a particularly marginalized group, and who constitute the majority of the urban population are unfortunately the most vulnerable and disproportionately affected by food insecurity. Many studies, especially those focused on reducing poverty, do not explicitly acknowledge the significant role social capital could play in ameliorating food insecurity especially in the peri urban settlements. This paper explores the determinants of food insecurity and then attempts to demonstrate the contribution made by social capital to the improvement of food security of peri-urban dwellers. Using systematic random sampling, 40 households in Nyalenda, a peri urban informal settlement in Kisumu City were surveyed using a household questionnaire. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and a Multinomial Logistic regression model to identify the determinants of food insecurity. The results show that household food security is significantly influenced by livestock and household assets, land size, dependency ratio, and access to market, gender, education level, and labor availability. On the other hand, social capital membership to groups influenced positively the food security status of households. This suggests that intervention promoting food security of peri urban household need to expand their focus not just on livelihood improvement, but also in building the capacity of household’s social capital to help improve food security. We recommend that policy intervention promoting food security of peri urban household to expand their focus to include building of capacity of household’s social capital networks. Additionally, a systematic effort is needed to harness social capital in improving food security intervention in peri urban areas where majority of poor urban dwellers are located.

Food security — not yet

Food security remains central in the United Nation Development Agenda (2030) as highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs 2). Nonetheless, there is still limited literature on food security in African countries and the drivers of urban food insecurity remain less understood, especially in Eswatini where urban food insecurity continues to rise. This study investigated the levels of food insecurity in the low income households of Msunduza in Mbabane and the coping strategies employed by Msunduza residents to deal with food shortages. The study sought to respond to the following research questions: What are the levels of food insecurity in Msunduza? What are the determinants of food insecurity in Msunduza? How do Msunduza residents cope with food insecurity challenges? To respond to the research questions, the study adopted a quantitative approach based on a case study research design. Data was collected from 91 heads of households, selected through systematic sampling procedure. The results reveal that majority of households in Msunduza are food insecure, with a larger proportion in the mildly food insecure category. Household income, household size, employment status and gender of the household head were found to be among the key determinants of food (in)security in the area. In cases of food shortages, households in the informal settlement of Msunduza employ different coping strategies which include reducing food intake (size of meals), begging, selling of household assets and skipping of meals, among others. The paper recommended that food security interventions be considered for low income urban households, more particularly, female headed households which tend to be more vulnerable to food insecurity.

Does enset (Ensete Ventricosum) production upshot smallholder farmers food security and income: Evidence from Dedo Woreda, Jimma zone, Ethiopia

The problem of food insecurity remains a challenge in developing countries, especially in rural areas. Despite the rising level of food insecurity, COVID-19 set in and was said to pose a threat to food security globally if adequate measures are not quickly put in place. This study, therefore, described the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents; examined the extent to which the rural households are food secure or otherwise during the COVID-19 pandemic and examine the drivers of food security status among rural households in South-East Nigeria. Primary data were collected from 200 households with the use of structured questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, food security index and logistics regression. Results of the findings revealed that the majority of the household heads were male (92%), married (93.5%), educated (87.5%) and had an average age of 54 years. They had an average household size of 7 persons, an average farming experience of 22 years, an average monthly income of N14, 305.5 and majority (83%) do not belong to a cooperative society. Majority (69.5%) of the households were food insecure, while only (30.5%) were food secure. The food-secure households had an average household size of 5 persons, while the food insecure households had 9 persons in their households. The headcount ratio of food secure households was 0.30, while it was 0.70 for food-insecure households. This shows that at least two out of three persons were food insecure in the study area. The surplus/shortfall index indicates that the food secure households exceeded the calorie requirement by 12%, while the food insecure fell short of the recommended calorie intake by 39%. Square food insecure gap or square shortfall index which indicate the severity of food insecurity among the food insecure household was 0.0056. The average calorie available (adult equivalent per day) for food secure households was 2523.5kcal, while average calorie available (AE/day) for food-insecure households was 1389.05kcal. The identified positive drivers of food security were marital status, educational level, cooperative members and annual income of the household heads. While, age of household head, household size and COVID-19 negatively influenced food security status. The study recommends, among others, putting in place immediate policy measures to reduce the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on rural household’s food security through the provision of enough palliatives which should be monitored so that it gets to the targeted population. Effective household size management and enlightenment programs on modern family planning techniques should be encouraged in rural areas. Rural households should also be educated on the nutritional implication of the various food items such as egg, milk, soybean and fish, especially for children to increase their protein intake and boost their immune system against COVID-19.

Food insecurity is the key policy challenge for Ethiopia in general and Gursum district in particular. To combat this problem diversifying the smallholders’ farming systems and income sources is an option. In this regards, the production of cash crops like hot pepper, groundnut and other market-oriented crops is indispensable. Although hot pepper production is important source of income of households, systematic and rigors analysis of its contribution to households’ food security has not been done in Gursum district. Thus, this research was undertaken in Gursum district of Oromia regional state in two kebeles with the objectives of examining food security status of household, analyzing the contribution of hot pepper in household food security and identifying the factors affecting household food security and hot pepper production. The research used primary data generated from 150 randomly selected sample households and secondary data from secondary sources. Household calorie consumption method was used to identify food security status of the sample household. The collected data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentage. The chi-square(X 2 ) test for systematic association of discrete/dummy variables with food security status and t-test for mean difference of continuous variables for food secure and food insecure households were used. Binary logit model was used to identify the factors affecting household food security in the study area. Among twelve hypothesized variables five were significantly affect food security status of the household those were household size at p<5%, land size at p<1%, level of education at p<5%, non-farm participation and income from hot pepper at p<1% probability level. In general from the empirical analysis, similar to other studies on income from cash crop has contribution for food security, thus, this study also confirms that income from hot pepper has significant contribution in improving food security status of the household. But low price, lack of improved and other constraints challenges the production of hot pepper. Therefore, local government, both local and international Non-government Organizations and other stakeholders should jointly work on hot pepper production and its income to improve food security of household. Keywords: Food security, Hot pepper, Binary Logit, Gursum DOI : 10.7176/FSQM/86-05 Publication date : April 30 th 2019

A Consideration of the Evaluation of Demonstration Projects to End Childhood Hunger (EDECH)

Nonfarm Employment and Food Security: Rural Households in Bangladesh

Food security is one of the critical concerns and top priority of policy agenda for developing countries. Having clear picture on food security status and its determinants helps policy makers to devise appropriate policies that enhance food security. Hence, this study aims to determine the food security status of the households, status, gap and severity of food insecurity among rural households and its determinants in Oda Bultum district of West Hararghe zone, Oromia National Regional State. The data for this study were collected from primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected from randomly selected 365 sample households by using multistage sampling procedure and secondary data were obtained from various sources. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) and probit model. The survey results indicated that 38.9% sampled households were food secured whilst 61.1% were food insecure. Further analysis of Probit regression revealed that; sex of household head, educational level, household size, donkey ownership, cash crop production, off/non-farm income, income, access to irrigation and frequency of extension contact significantly increased probability of being food secure. This study recommends that rural households should be encouraged to increase off/non-farm income, work on household size by applying family planning, increasing frequency of extension contact, increasing cash crop productivity, increasing access to irrigation, increasing income, donkey possession and improvement of the educational level for the household heads in order to enhance households’ food security status in the study area. Keywords: Food security, Agro-pastoralist, Sedentary farming, Probit, Oda Bultum DOI: 10.7176/JESD/12-17-03 Publication date: September 30 th 2021

Africa is making slow progress in achieving international hunger targets. About 795 million people were chronically malnutrition in worldwide of which 780 million were in developing countries especially in SSA. Recent revised humanitarian requirements documents estimate that 9.7 million people in Ethiopia were in need of emergency food assistance and 420,000 children were requiring treatment for severe acute malnutrition in 2016. So, understanding the major determinants of food security is primary importance in choosing appropriate interventions for addressing the problem of food insecurity. Data on demographic and socio-economic characteristics and institutional aspects were collected from 149 households through interview schedule, key informant interviews and focus group discussion. Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and Logit model were used for data analysis. The survey results indicate that 53.02% of the respondents were food secure, while 46.98% were food insecure. Results also indicate that there was a significant mean difference at different level of significance between the food secure and food insecure households in terms of age, sex, family size, dependency ratio, educational levels, size of cultivated land, livestock ownership excluding oxen own, off/non-farm income, cash crop produces, fertilizer user, contact with development agents, improve seeds user, distance to the nearest market and access to credit. Among 16 explanatory variables included in the logit model, 8 of them were found to be significant at different probability level, including sex, size of cultivated land and livestock ownership excluding oxen were positive effect on food security whereas, age, family size, dependent ratio, access to the nearest market and access to credit had negative effect on food security. The major portion of this study was about the determinants of rural households’ food security, it has been realized that the determinants of rural households’ food security were broad, interrelated and varies. These can be addressed by a wide comprehensive intervention from different angles of social aspects. Keywords: Food security, determinants, rural households, coping strategies, Meta, logistic regression, Ethiopia. DOI: 10.7176/IAGS/89-01 Publication date: January 31 st 2021

Food security strategy is the major component of the Agricultural Development Led Industry (ADLI) strategy of Ethiopia. So far, no systematic study has been undertaken on food security status of female-headed household in Ambo district. Thus, identifying the determining factors of female-headed households` food security is crucial for pertinent interventions. Accordingly, this study was carried out to identify factors influencing food security of female-headed households. To achieve the objective of the study, cross sectional survey was employed using 104 female-headed households. Structured household survey questionnaire, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used for data collection, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model. The result of binary logistic regression model revealed that age of household head, productive labor force, access to credit, number of oxen owned, use of chemical fertilizer, location of the household, share cropping, livestock holding, participation in social organization and non-farm income were found to be positively and significantly influencing the status of female-headed household food security. The study further indicated that the mean value of the energy available for food insecure and secure households was 1,843 Kcal/AE/day and 2,943 Kcal/AE/day respectively with the mean energy intake of all sample households 2,560 kcal. As female-headed household spent much of what they have for food than male-headed households, female-headed households are engaged in insecure livelihood system. Thus, it necessitates to improve female-headed household`s decision making power, resource allocation and control, access to markets, and asset ownership issues, which is likely to be a more powerful tool for poverty alleviation policies.

The problem of urban food insecurity in Ethiopia has received little attention despite its increasing importance and far reaching ramifications. High rates of unemployment resulted from sluggish economic growth and low level of investment in urban centers combined with high population growth has negatively affected income earning potentials of the residents. Urban population will continue to grow with its associated problems unless meaningful development interventions backed by research findings are undertaken. Since research findings on factors affecting food insecurity in urban areas are scarce, this research, in particular, fills this research gap. The present study attempts to examine the food insecurity situation, estimate food insecurity gap and severity and identify the determinants of food insecurity in Addis Ababa city at household level. The primary data source for this work was the Addis Ababa urban household socio-economic data collected by undertaking a survey on 140 households. Three stage cluster random sampling technique with proportional to size was used to select respondents from the study area. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics such us mean, standard error, frequency, and percentage. Econometric analysis was used to identify the determinants of food insecurity, and Foster-Greer-Thorbecke model indices were employed to estimate the food insecurity gap and the severity of food insecurity. The descriptive statistics revealed a significant mean difference (p<0.05) between the food secure and food insecure households in terms of household size, age of household vii head, ownership of bank account, household income, kilocalorie available per individual, remittance and gift received and daily food expenditure per adult equivalent but education level of household head was also statistically significant (p<0.01). A Tobit econometric model has identified six out of eleven variables included in the model as significant (p<0.05). Household size, household income, household head age , household head education, ownership of bank account and income from remittance and gift were found to be significant determinants of food insecurity in the study area. The head count ratio computed by FGT model revealed that 47 percent of sample households were food insecured. The food insecurity gap and severity were 16.83 and 6.9 percent, respectively.

Food is an essential requirement for human survival, growth, and health. Despite the fact that the right to be free from hunger is the most fundamental human right that can be achieved, a substantial number of people worldwide experience food insecurity. This study examined the factors that influence household food insecurity and the coping mechanisms adopted by households during food crises in the Offa district, southern Ethiopia. This study included 144 households from three kebeles, and the interview schedule method was used to collect data from the respondents. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of households and coping techniques used during food scarcity. Statistical methods, such as the chi-square test and t-test, were used to compare food-secure and food-insecure sampling households in relation to the explanatory variables. The Food Consumption Score (FCS) method was used to determine the level of household caloric availability. Determinants of food insecurity were identified using a binary logit model. The empirical model consisted of 11 explanatory variables. Off-farm income, educational level of the family head, access to credit, livestock ownership, dependence ratio, cultivated farm size, extension services, and technology adoption were found to be statistically significant in determining food insecurity. Coping strategies used by households, such as limiting food intake, borrowing money, rationing money, and skipping meals have been discovered. Based on these findings, it is suggested that all pertinent bodies prioritize improving rural farmers' incomes, promoting extension services, encouraging access to basic education, promoting off-farm and non-farm employment opportunities, and introducing livestock development packages to improve food security for rural households.

Most of the sub-Saharan African countries including Ethiopia were affected by the food insecurity issue. This study aimed to analyze the drivers of food insecurity, the choice of livelihood strategies, and factors that impact the choices of food security strategies in response to food insecurity in Abay Chomen District of Ethiopia's Oromia region, Ethiopia. The result of this study is based on primary data and obtained from 150 randomly chosen sample households and secondary data generated from various sources. As for the technique of data analysis, this study employed descriptive statistics for the food insecurity index, as well as a binary logistic model and a multinomial logit model for the choice of household livelihood techniques. The findings of the survey showed that 51.3% of the households were found to be food-insecure and 48.7% food-safe in the study area. Furthermore, the result indicated that the average calorie consumption of the households surveyed was 2008.54 kcal for each adult equivalent per day, which is below the lowest calorie necessity of 2200 kcal. The estimated logistic model outcome on the drivers of household food insecurity confirmed the oldness of the household leader, larger family holder, and off-farm income affects negatively, while the gender of the household leader, the size of the built-up area, the number of livestock holdings (except oxen), the number of oxen owned, access to credit, the participation in the sale of cattle, and others affect positively. In addition, the multinomial logit model result indicates that the educational status of the household leader, the size of livestock farming, the number of oxen possessed, access to credit, remoteness to the market, and monthly agricultural earning are the main drivers of the choice of livelihood strategies of concern for the food insecurity of households. As a result, this research attempted to produce a result of analysis with a defined scope, although many questions remain unsolved. Future studies should concentrate on presenting fundamental data on the factors that affect food security status and livelihood strategy, the social, political, natural, and environmental aspects, the descriptive information on the shopping habits of people who experience food insecurity, and the key aspects that increase the vulnerability of the rural poor to food insecurity.