ASSESSMENT OF FOOD INSECURITY AND ITS DETEMNANTS IN ENDERTA DISTRICT, SOUTH EASTERN ZONE OF TIGRAY REGION, ETHIOPEA

Abstract

This study was initiated to assess the status of food insecurity and its determinants among rural households in Enderta district, south eastern zone of Tigray region, which is one of the droughtprone area. The main objective of the study was to assess the status of food insecurity and identify factors influencing food insecurity in the study area. Data for this study was obtained by crosssectional design whereby random sampling was used to select 120 respondents from the study area. Focus group discussion and key informant interview were conducted and a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used to collect data for this study. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were used to obtain variability among variables. From the study, households self-report result shows that about 81.7 percent of the households were food insecure and 18.3 were food secure. Households with large family size, non-educated and old household heads were more likely to be food insecure than those with smaller family size, educated and young household heads. Similarly, factors like low land size, not livestock and not using farm input by the households, Unreliable rains, Limited use of modern technology and Poor soils were positively and significantly associated with food insecurity. Policy interventions aimed to change food security situation in the study area need to be diversified by focusing on enhancing family planning programs, promoting access to basic education to rural households and to motivate extension service providers as well as farmers to be insisted to utilize the services effectively and efficiently.