Food security and insecurity are terms used to describe whether or not households have access to sufficient quality and quantity of food. Food insecurity is a condition in which people lack the basic food intake necessary to provide them with the energy and nutrients required for fully productive lives. It can either be temporary (transitory food insecurity) or continuous (chronic food insecurity).
Like many developing countries, Ethiopian farmers in the highlands predominantly practice subsistence farming and are often subject to food insecurity. The main objective of the seminar is to review the status of household food insecurity in Ethiopia with a special focus on dryland areas. A review of the status of household food insecurity is vital because it provides information that will enable effective measures to be undertaken to prove food security status and bring the success of food security development programs.
The result of the empirical review indicated, especially in dryland areas of Ethiopia, the majority of households were food insecure. Drought risks, desert locus, the spread of corona varies, protracted impacts of past poor seasons, conflict, poor household income, cost of nutritious food, and knowledge of nutritious food factors are the major drivers of food insecurity.
International non-governmental organizations, local organizations, the private sector, and the government should continue to work together to adopt drought-risk-friendly modern technologies and design new production-oriented and commercialization policies to improve food security.
The data for this review was used from secondary data sources by conducting an intensive reading of published and unpublished journals, articles, and books. Also, this paper is going to review the Causes, indicators, coping mechanisms, and Policy options to minimize household food insecurity in dryland areas of Ethiopia.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Above all, I would like to thank the Almighty God for his unreserved gift and for being with me in all aspects of my life, especially in my academic performance. Besides, first and foremost, I thank my graduate seminar Course Convenor and advisor Tinsaye Tamerat (Ph.D.) for whom I am very appreciative and express my gratitude for his valuable advice, energetic encouragement, suggestion, insight, open-minded views, help, and guidance from the initiation to the completion of these Graduate seminar paper.
Finally, this might be a good opportunity to acknowledge all members of my family, relatives, and friends for all their encouragement and support throughout my study.
ABBREVIATION
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
ABSTRACT
Food security and insecurity are terms used to describe whether or not households have access to sufficient quality and quantity of food. Food insecurity is a condition in which people lack the basic food intake necessary to provide them with the energy and nutrients required for fully productive lives. It can either be temporary (transitory food insecurity) or continuous (chronic food insecurity).
Like many developing countries, Ethiopian farmers in the highlands predominantly practice subsistence farming and are often subject to food insecurity. The main objective of the seminar is to review the status of household food insecurity in Ethiopia with a special focus on dryland areas. A review of the status of household food insecurity is vital because it provides information that will enable effective measures to be undertaken to prove food security status and bring the success of food security development programs.
The result of the empirical review indicated, especially in dryland areas of Ethiopia, the majority of households were food insecure. Drought risks, desert locus, the spread of corona varies, protracted impacts of past poor seasons, conflict, poor household income, cost of nutritious food, and knowledge of nutritious food factors are the major drivers of food insecurity.
International non-governmental organizations, local organizations, the private sector, and the government should continue to work together to adopt drought-risk-friendly modern technologies and design new production-oriented and commercialization policies to improve food security.
The data for this review was used from secondary data sources by conducting an intensive reading of published and unpublished journals, articles, and books. Also, this paper is going to review the Causes, indicators, coping mechanisms, and Policy options to minimize household food insecurity in dryland areas of Ethiopia.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the seminar
The issue of ensuring food security has become the agenda of concern across the world in several contexts. Worldwide data shows that the number of people undernourished and severely food insecure people in 2018 was about 821.6 and 704.3 million people respectively. In the same year, in Africa, 256.1 and 277 million people respectively are undernourished and severely food insecure. In Ethiopia, the average number of undernourished people in three years (From 2016-2018) is about 21.6 million (FAO, 2018)
It is widely accepted that food is a basic means of sustenance and a human right. Having enough food in terms of quantity and quality for all people is an important factor for a healthy and productive life(Sani & Kemaw, 2017). Adequate intake of quality food is needed condition to be well-nourished and indicates the food security status of a household. In contrast, food insecurity exists when people lack access to an adequate and safe supply of food on a stable basis.(FAO., 2005)
Food security is a topic of keen interest to policymakers, practitioners, and academics around the world in large part because the consequences of food insecurity can affect almost every facet of society (Feleke, 2019) For example, the food price crisis and subsequent food riots in 2007–2008 highlighted the critical role of food security in maintaining political stability (Jones, 2013) Reports indicate that about 795 million people in the world were food insecure, with many more sufferings from “hidden hunger” caused by micronutrient or protein deficiencies (FAO I. &., 2015)
As a part of Africa and the developing world, Ethiopia is one of the most food-insecure and famine-affected countries as a large portion of the population is affected by food insecurity. The Ethiopian economy is mainly dependent on agriculture which is vulnerable to different shocks, seasonality, and trends (Bedemo, 2014). For example, in the country, most areas are exacerbated by low production and crop loss mainly caused by seasonal unpredictable and sporadic rainfall and climate shocks, the occurrence of drought which often results in low farm production, widespread lower income, and subsequent food shortages and famines.
According to (Bezu, 2018) in Ethiopia, nearly 33 million people are suffering from chronic undernourishment and food insecurity with the highest percentage of the food-insecure population living in dryland areas. According to the report of the ministry of agriculture and rural development (MoARD., 2009) arid and semiarid rangelands of Ethiopia comprise nearly 13% of the population, while these areas constitute about 63% of the country’s landmass.
According to the report (FAO, 2018), the main causes of food insecurity in most drylands of Ethiopia are prolonged drought, conflict, political instability, crop disease, flooding, protracted impacts of past poor seasons, desert locusts, poor household income, and cost of nutritious foods and knowledge on nutritious food factors. And also, the report shows, in Ethiopia, prolonged drought conditions are severely affecting the livelihoods in most southern and southeastern dryland areas of south nation nationality people which is a part of the state (region), southern Oromia, and southeastern Somali Regions, where cumulative seasonal rainfall was up to 60% below average
To reverse this problem, the government of Ethiopia has been formulating and implementing various strategies and programs like a productive safety net program (a platform to provide emergency-related support to vulnerable households in need of relief cash/food in times of shocks) and agricultural development - led industrialization (example, Growth and Transformation Plan one and two) in which food security strategy is a key component. To foster broad-based development sustainably, the growth and transformation Plan (GTP I) (2010/11- 2014/15) was implemented. Generally, the aim of the plan has significantly increased the share of industry in the economy along with the rise in agricultural production. Hence, according to Dube et al. (2019) during the GTP I implementation period, there was a positive achievement in the economic growth of the country such as a double-digit growth rate of real GDP and a decline in the incidence of poverty from 38.7% headcount poverty index in 2005 to 29.6% in 2010/11. Similarly, GTP II (2015/16- 2019/20) is a continuation of GTP 1 and gives more emphasis on humanitarian challenges arising from climatic change that continued affecting the economic growth of the country, production of high-value crops and livestock, and market orientation.(Dube, 2019)
In addition, pastoral and agro-pastoral households in the dryland areas of Ethiopia use different kinds of coping mechanisms to reduce the incidence of food insecurity. As coping strategies, the mobility of pastoralists exploiting the animal feed resources along different ecological zones represents a flexible response to a dry and increasingly variable environment because animal byproduct like milk is the main source of food. This means pastoralists are movable in searching for better animal feed sources because in most dryland areas the rainfall is very erratic. Hence, pastoralists move to areas having rainfall and feed their animal grass which is the only source of animal feed. However, constraints on pastoral mobility, such as changes in land use, tenure regulations, and borders, have undermined the whole pastoral system result adults in the problem of food insecurity continuing to persist in the country (FAO, 2018)
2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM OF THE SEMINAR
Though Ethiopia has abundant natural resources, most of its socioeconomic indicators are extremely low. In Ethiopia, food shortage has aggravated the already poor economy of the country. Both chronic and transitory problems of food insecurity are widespread and severe in both rural and urban areas of the country (FDRE, 2002) However, a lot of studies conducted so far in the field give more emphasis to the rural area of the country(Eden & Nigatu, 2009) But such partial assessments do not verify situations at the grass root level and hide the true food insecurity problem of the country. Furthermore, such studies or reviews do not look at the underlying causes of food insecurity in households in Ethiopia. The extent of the food insecurity problem differs from place to place and by social position and actual living conditions.
The country is also known to possess the largest livestock population in Africa. However, poverty and food insecurity remain the major challenges to achieving economic development in Ethiopia and especially in the rural area of the country. This is due to the subsistence nature of Ethiopian agriculture, its mere dependence on rainfall, and the existing backward technology, which has made peasants highly vulnerable to famine and food insecurity.
Since the problem is more severe, especially in the dryland areas of the country, the government of Ethiopia has recently appealed to its international partners for emergency food assistance to feed 10.2 million people and for special nutritional programmers‟ for more than 2.1 million, including 400,000 severely malnourished children. In addition, over 8 million vulnerable and food-insecure people receive support under the Productive Safety Net Programme (Nkunzimana, 2016)
Food insecurity is a real and major problem in dryland areas. Despite this, reviews on household-level determinants of food insecurity and local coping strategies are rare in the area. Hence, this review was initiated to address the knowledge gap as far as food insecurity and local coping strategies in the pastoral and agro-pastoral contexts are concerned. Thus, this review synthesizes the status of household food insecurity and drivers of food insecurity in dryland areas which provides important information to policymakers, practitioners, academics, and other concerned bodies to intervene and improve the food security status of the households in the country.
3. OBJECTIVE OF THE SEMINAR
3.1. General Objective of the Seminar
- To review the status of Household Food Insecurity in dryland areas of Ethiopia
3.2. Specific Objectives of the Seminar
- To review the causes of Household Food Insecurity in Ethiopia
- To review indicators of Household Food Insecurity in Ethiopia
- To review Coping mechanisms and Policy Options to minimize Household Food Insecurity in Ethiopia
4. RESEARCH QUESTION
- What is the cause of household food insecurity in dryland areas of Ethiopia
- What are the indicators of household food insecurity in dryland areas of Ethiopia
- What are the Coping mechanisms and Policy Options to minimize food insecurity in dryland areas of Ethiopia
5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SEMINAR
A review of the status of household food insecurity in dryland areas of Ethiopia is vital because it provides information that will enable effective measures to be undertaken to improve food security status and bring the success of food security development programs.
It will also enable development practitioners and policymakers to have better knowledge as to where and how to intervene in rural areas to bring food security or minimize the severity of food insecurity. The positive role of the agricultural sector in terms of ensuring national food security is measured by the contribution of domestic food production to national food availability and reduced dependence on food imports.
Although the food deficit in Ethiopia has never been overcome during the last three decades, domestic production is playing a significant role to reduce the gap and dependence on food imports to a limited extent. The national food security goal is to attain food self-sufficiency by increasing the use of a package of modern farm inputs through an agricultural extension program, as well as improved husbandry conditions in livestock-producing areas. Improved domestic food production in the Ethiopian context will have the following positive social benefits:
- Reduced dependence on food imports and saving foreign exchange; allocating the saved foreign exchange for other alternative public uses will increase the social benefits;
- It contributes to human resources development. This would be possible through improved nutritional status and reduced health costs in society (minimizing health conditions that arise from poor nutrition and health consequences);
- It will enable the supply of a healthy and productive labor force required for economic growth.
6. METHODOLOGY
The data for this review was used from secondary data sources by conducting an intensive reading of published and unpublished journals, articles, and books.
7. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
7.1. Review of the Status of Household Food Insecurity in Dryland Areas of Ethiopia
7.1.1. Concepts and Definitions of Food Insecurity
In the mid of 1970s and 1974s world food conference was held to solve the problem of world food crises and major famines around the world. Food security and insecurity are the terms used to describe whether or not households have access to sufficient quality and quantity of food. With progress in time and the severity of the problem, food security issues gained prominence and great attention at the global, national, household, and individual levels. Such progressive work by scientists led to redefining the scope and depth of the food security concept. For instance, (Duffour, 2010) explained the concept stating that food security at the global level does not guarantee food security at the household or individual level. Without much change in the basic concepts, different institutions and organizations define food security in different ways. According to (FAO, 2008) food security is a situation that is achieved at the individual, household, national, regional, and global levels when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. On the other hand, in recent studies, food security is defined as adequate availability of and access to food for households to meet the minimum energy requirements recommended for an active and healthy life(Hussein W., 2013) .
According to the 1996 World Food Summit Food security exists “when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. Based on this definition(FAO, 2008) developed four main dimensions of food security which are food availability, food accessibility, food utilization, and stability.
Examining the dimensions of food security provides a more comprehensive picture, and can also help in targeting and prioritizing food security and nutrition policies and programs.
Food availability: refers to the presence of food at global, national, household, and individual levels, example when “sufficient quantities of appropriate, necessary types of food from domestic production, commercial imports, commercial aid programs, or food stocks are consistently available to individuals or nations.” Hence, food availability is largely a function of macroeconomic factors (Anderson, 2015) The food availability indicators capture not only the quantity but also the quality and diversity of food. For assessing food availability, adequacy of dietary energy supply, the share of calories derived from cereals, roots, and tubers, average protein supply, and the average value of food production should be analyzed.
Food access: refers to the resources that households have to obtain food, either through their products or through purchase. So, individuals need to have assets or incomes to produce, and purchase to obtain foods needed to maintain their consumption. Hence, food access is largely related to household income and own production(Anderson, 2015) . Food access depends on; income available to the household, the distribution of income within the household, the price of food in the market, and other factors worth mentioning are individual access to the market and social and institutional rights.
Food utilization: refers to the nutritional benefits derived from food consumption which are related to proper food processing, storage techniques, adequate knowledge of nutrition; and adequate health and sanitation services exist. Hence food utilization is largely related to nutrition, health, and sanitation (Anderson, 2015). The same to this (Jrad, 2010) defines food utilization as the ‘proper biological use of food, requiring a diet that contains sufficient energy and essential nutrients as well as knowledge of food storage, processing, basic nutrition, child care, and illness management’.
Food stability: refers to the stability of all other dimensions of food security over time. Even if your food intake is adequate today, you are still considered to be food insecure if you have inadequate access to food periodically, risking a deterioration of your nutritional status.
Adverse weather conditions, political instability, or economic factors (unemployment, rising food prices) may have an impact on your food security status (FAO, 2008). Therefore, for food security to be insured at global, regional, national, household, and individual level food stability should be maintained.
Food insecurity, on the other hand, is a situation that exists when people lack secure access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food required for normal growth and development and active and healthy life (WFP, 2009) It is a dynamic phenomenon: its impact varies depending on its duration, its severity, and the local socioeconomic and environmental conditions.
7.1.2. Types of food insecurity
Food insecurity can be transitory (when it occurs in times of crisis), seasonal or chronic (when it occurs continuingly). A person can be vulnerable to hunger even if he or she is not hungry at a given point in time(Zezza, 2003.)
Chronic food insecurity is a long-term or persistent condition that occurs when people are unable to meet their minimum food requirements over a sustained period. It results from extended periods of poverty, lack of assets, and inadequate access to productive or financial resources (FAO, 2008). Contrarily, transitory food insecurity is short-term and temporary and occurs when there is a sudden drop in the ability to produce or access enough food to maintain a good nutritional status. This means transitory food insecurity is caused by short-term shocks and fluctuations in food availability and food access, including year-to-year variations in domestic food production, food prices, and household incomes (FAO, 2008). Both chronic and transitory problems of food insecurity are widespread and several in Ethiopia.
7.1.3. Food insecurity situations in Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, food insecurity is highly prevalent in the moisture-deficit highlands and the lowland pastoral and agro-pastoral dryland areas. Abule et al. (2005) identified the six regions of dryland areas in Ethiopia, considering the environmental conditions, floristic composition, and productivity values (Figure 1). These arid and semiarid rangelands of Ethiopia as shown in Figure 1, comprise nearly 13% of the population, having 63% of the country’s landmass (MoARD., 2009)
Even in years of adequate rainfall and good harvest, the people, particularly in dryland pastoral and agro-pastoral areas remain food insecure and in need of food assistance. In dry (lowland) areas, droughts have become frequent and more severe in recent years and are one of the most important triggers of malnutrition and food insecurity in the country(Dominguez, 2010). In most of these areas, the rainfall is raining in a very short period, starting from June to August; the remaining time of the year is dry. Even this time, the level of rainfall is very erratic resulting in droughts and other related disasters (such as crop failure, water shortage, and livestock disease, land degradation, limited aid household assets, low income (Mohamed, 2017)
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Figure 1. Location map of the major dryland areas in Ethiopia. (Source: Abule et al. (2005).
According to (FSIN., 2020) among intergovernmental authority for development (IGAD) countries, Ethiopia was the most food-insecure country in the region with 8.1 million food-insecure people in need of urgent action, followed by Sudan with 6.2 million, and South Sudan with 6.1 million. The problem is more severe in the dryland areas of the region because, mostly, prolonged dry conditions and flash floods negatively affected pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihoods by causing below-average crop production, and pasture, as well as limiting water sources for both, and resulting in chronic and acute food insecurity is prevalent. As a result, these regions have become heavily dependent on external food aid.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification [IPC], 2020 classifies food insecurity into five phases; phase one (People minimally food insecure), phase two (People under Stress), phase three (people in crisis), phase four (people in an emergency) and phase five (people in catastrophe). The report also evidenced that of the 8 million food-insecure people in Ethiopia, 21% are severely food insecure at the IPC Phase three-level, 38% at IPC phase two, 34% at IPC phase one, 6-% IPC phase four, and 0-% IPC phase five. The analysis includes all food-insecure households irrespective of whether they benefit from a productive safety net program (PSNP), including current internally displaced persons or returnees
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- Arbeit zitieren
- Hama Mamo Sagaro (Autor:in), 2022, What distinguishes food insecurity in Dryland areas in Ethiopia from the highlands?, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1315420
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