Agricultural and Food Economics volume 7 , Article number: 5 Cite this article. Metrics details. The study used a primary data collected from randomly selected households for 7 consecutive days from each sample using weighed records method. In addition, focus group discussions and key informants interview were also used. This study employed descriptive statistics, food insecurity index and Tobit model to analyze the data.
The finding of the study revealed that, in the study area, the incidence of food insecurity was The study finding also pointed out that the mean kilocalorie intake of food insecure households was Therefore, to reverse the incidence, future interventions should focus on the aforementioned factors to build the capacity of households through enhancing their access to human, financial and physical capital. Food is both a basic need and a human right as enough food in terms of quantity and quality for all people is an important factor for a healthy and productive life as well as for a nation to sustain its development FAO ; Sani and Kemaw Besides, enough food in terms of quantity and quality is a key for maintaining and promoting political stability and insuring peace among people Idrisa et al.
However, reports indicated that about 1. As a result, more than 8. The western part of Ethiopia, Assosa zonein particular, is hit by high degree of incidence of food insecurity as agricultural production and productivity is highly vulnerable to climate variables Sani and Kemaw In addition, Assosa zone is characterized by erratic and unreliable rainfall, land degradation, low per capita, poor infrastructure development, vulnerable groups landless and the poor without assets, very small and fragmented land holders, female- headed households, families with large size, drought and pest affected households which cause low agricultural production and food deficit in the area Asfir ; AZBARD Assosa Zone Agriculture and Rural Development Office In addition, to reduce the incidence of food insecurity households use different kinds of coping mechanisms in order to improve their livelihood.
As to Gemechu et al. But, the improvement programs to be effective, they should be supported by location specific empirical evidences Van der Veen and Tagel To this end, there is limitation of information on the issue in the study area. Hence, this study analyzes extent of food insecurity and its determinants along with the coping mechanisms opted by households against food insecurity and shortage in the study area. Various studies conducted in Ethiopia mainly focused on food availability and access dimension Girma ; Mesfin ; Nigatu ; Arega ; Okyere et al.
However, considering only the food availability and access measures do not fully address the actual food energy utilization by the households and the quality of the food consumed. In addition, the drawback of relying on seven day recall method is that as a part of developing countries the majority of rural households have weak access to formal education due to that they cannot accurately respond on the types and quantities of food items consumed. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: section 2 provides the methodology employed; section 3 presents and discusses the results; and section 4 concludes and infers policy implications..
