Determinants of Rural Farm Household Food Security in Boloso Sore District of Wolaita Zone in Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was conducted to identify determinants of rural farm household food security status in Boloso Sore district of Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia. A three-stage sampling technique was utilized to obtain a sample size of 90 rural farm households. Cross sectional data were collected through structured questionnaire, focus group discussion and personal observation. Data were analyzed using head count index, food insecurity gap index, food surplus gap index and binary logit model. The result showed that only 34.5% of rural farm households were found food secure while 65.5% were food insecure. The food insecurity gap and food surplus index showed that food secured households exceeded the food security line by 34.6% while 27.8% of food insecure households fall below the poverty line. The severity of the food insecurity gap among the food insecure households was found to be 11.7%. The binary logit model result revealed that the major factors determining food security of rural farm households were family size in adult equivalent, total cultivated land size, annual income of household, oxen ownership of households, access to extension and credit and age of the household head. Age of household head, family size and access to extension services had a negative effect on household food security status while household income, credit access, oxen ownership and cultivable land size had a positive effect on household food security. Limiting the increasing population pressure, promoting income-generating activities, enhancing micro-financing efficiency, creating employment opportunities, information dissemination, among others can contribute to food security status of households in the study areas.