FOOD INSECURITY IN SMALL URBAN CENTERS OF EAST GOJJAM ZONE, AMHARA NATIONAL REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

Food insecurity has become one of the daunting challenges that the urban areas of the developing countries have been grappling with. Small urban centers, in particular, have faced with a serious challenge of food insecurity. The present study aimed to identify the food insecure households and the determinants of food insecurity based on the household survey consumption data. Two-stage sampling technique was used to select the study towns and 328 households. Mean, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA and logistic regression were employed to analyse the data. The computed result from the survey consumption data revealed that over one-third of the surveyed households were food insecure while nearly two-third were food secure. This high incidence suggests the severity of food insecurity in these towns. The results further revealed that the incidence and severity of food insecurity varies among the study towns. The logistic regression result also showed that six out of the twelve regressed explanatory variables were found statistically significant determinants of food insecurity. Among the statistically significant variables; migration status of household head, acquired skills of household head, radio/television possession of the household and monthly income of the household have negative association with food insecurity while educational status of the household head and round trip distance from the source of drinking water point have positive association with food insecurity. It is therefore recommended that the local government should work on reducing the extent of food insecurity in the study towns by helping households to diversify their income sources. A productive safety net program launched in the major urban areas should also be scaled up.