Food and nutrition security of smallholder farmers in Eastern Ethiopia: A comparative analysis of shifters and non-shifters from coffee to khat

Notwithstanding the substantial progress achieved under the sustainable development goals of 2030 aimed at “zero hunger and malnutrition”, worldwide malnutrition and food insecurity are escalating. This study identifies factors linked to food and nutrition security among farm households in eastern Ethiopia that shifted from coffee to khat and those that did not. Primary data were collected from 788 randomly selected households across the four districts. The calorie intake and dietary diversity score were used to encapsulate food and nutrition security. Descriptive statistics revealed that 74.1 % of households consumed calories below 2550 kcal/AE/day, with an average dietary diversity score of 4.46. Food insecurity rates were 80.2 % for shifting households and 63.4 % for non-shifting households. Similarly, 35.4 % of households had low, 52.4 % had medium, and 12.2 % had high nutrition. Among shifting households, 37.3 % were low, 54 % medium, and 8.7 % high; whereas non-shifting households had 32 % low, 49.7 % medium, and 18.3 % high nutrition security. The probit model showed that food security was significantly associated with age, farmland, cooperative-membership, off/non-farm activities, credit access, market information, and the shift to khat. The ordered probit model indicated that nutrition security significantly influenced by family size, shift to khat, off/non-farm activities, credit access, on-farm income, clean water, and road distance. The findings suggest that policymakers and development partners aiming to reduce food and nutrition insecurity in the study area should focus on the identified variables. • Many households fall below the recommended caloric intake threshold. • Higher food insecurity rates observed in households shifting to khat. • Dietary diversity scores indicate limited variety in household diets. • Key factors for food security include age, land, shift to khat, credit, off/non-farm, market information, and cooperative. • Nutrition security influenced by family size, on-farm income, shift to khat, credit, off/non-farm, distance to road, and water access.