Urban food systems: Factors associated with food insecurity in the urban settings evidence from Dessie and Combolcha cities, north-central Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, food security and vulnerability assessments have traditionally focused on rural areas. Recently, the issue of urban food security has been attracting attention in global policy debates. However, limited studies are found in the study areas that link food insecurity with major food marke...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023016894 |
| _version_ | 1797851769079857152 |
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| author | Amare Molla Dinku Tefera Chane Mekonnen Getachew Shumye Adilu |
| author_facet | Amare Molla Dinku Tefera Chane Mekonnen Getachew Shumye Adilu |
| author_sort | Amare Molla Dinku |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In Ethiopia, food security and vulnerability assessments have traditionally focused on rural areas. Recently, the issue of urban food security has been attracting attention in global policy debates. However, limited studies are found in the study areas that link food insecurity with major food market chains in the urban food system settings. This study is therefore, aimed at measuring the status of food insecurity in the urban food systems. A mixed study design has been used with randomly selected 506 resident households in Dessie and Combolcha cities, of north-central Ethiopia. We used a pre-tested, semi-structured survey questionnaire to collect quantitative data. The qualitative data has been collected with key informant interview, and focus group discussion among food system actors and facilitators in the selected commodities. We applied Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) to measure the food security status and narration and summarization techniques to analyze the qualitative data. The study confirmed that 33.1% of the respondents were food insecure. Moreover, nine and six individuals per 100 people were forced to ‘sleep hungry’ and ‘not eat in the whole day and night’ respectively. Households' food insecurity was significantly associated with the gender of the household head, participation in casual labor, and living house ownership. The degree of food insecurity was deemed to be higher due to weak food system governance, an inconsistent food supply chain, and socio-economic and gender inequalities. However, both formal and informal food systems have their own unique qualities and maximum food security benefit can be achieved if they are well integrated. This implies food security intervention in urban areas needs to refocus their strategies towards systematic and integrated approaches that can promote social security programs like: urban housing, job security, urban agriculture and inclusive food safety net programs. Moreover, multidimensional studies are still important to obtain a wider picture of sustainable urban food security in urban areas and to better integrate the formal and informal food systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:22:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-387196afb81a4b7e8286e35bdedced42 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:22:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-387196afb81a4b7e8286e35bdedced422023-04-05T08:25:49ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402023-03-0193e14482Urban food systems: Factors associated with food insecurity in the urban settings evidence from Dessie and Combolcha cities, north-central EthiopiaAmare Molla Dinku0Tefera Chane Mekonnen1Getachew Shumye Adilu2Development Studies, Department of Rural Development and Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia; Corresponding author.Public Health, Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health, Wollo University, Dessie, EthiopiaDepartment of Plant Science, College of Agriculture, Wollo University, Dessie, EthiopiaIn Ethiopia, food security and vulnerability assessments have traditionally focused on rural areas. Recently, the issue of urban food security has been attracting attention in global policy debates. However, limited studies are found in the study areas that link food insecurity with major food market chains in the urban food system settings. This study is therefore, aimed at measuring the status of food insecurity in the urban food systems. A mixed study design has been used with randomly selected 506 resident households in Dessie and Combolcha cities, of north-central Ethiopia. We used a pre-tested, semi-structured survey questionnaire to collect quantitative data. The qualitative data has been collected with key informant interview, and focus group discussion among food system actors and facilitators in the selected commodities. We applied Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) to measure the food security status and narration and summarization techniques to analyze the qualitative data. The study confirmed that 33.1% of the respondents were food insecure. Moreover, nine and six individuals per 100 people were forced to ‘sleep hungry’ and ‘not eat in the whole day and night’ respectively. Households' food insecurity was significantly associated with the gender of the household head, participation in casual labor, and living house ownership. The degree of food insecurity was deemed to be higher due to weak food system governance, an inconsistent food supply chain, and socio-economic and gender inequalities. However, both formal and informal food systems have their own unique qualities and maximum food security benefit can be achieved if they are well integrated. This implies food security intervention in urban areas needs to refocus their strategies towards systematic and integrated approaches that can promote social security programs like: urban housing, job security, urban agriculture and inclusive food safety net programs. Moreover, multidimensional studies are still important to obtain a wider picture of sustainable urban food security in urban areas and to better integrate the formal and informal food systems.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023016894Urban food systemAssociationsFood insecurityMixed research designNorth-central Ethiopia |
| spellingShingle | Amare Molla Dinku Tefera Chane Mekonnen Getachew Shumye Adilu Urban food systems: Factors associated with food insecurity in the urban settings evidence from Dessie and Combolcha cities, north-central Ethiopia Heliyon Urban food system Associations Food insecurity Mixed research design North-central Ethiopia |
| title | Urban food systems: Factors associated with food insecurity in the urban settings evidence from Dessie and Combolcha cities, north-central Ethiopia |
| title_full | Urban food systems: Factors associated with food insecurity in the urban settings evidence from Dessie and Combolcha cities, north-central Ethiopia |
| title_fullStr | Urban food systems: Factors associated with food insecurity in the urban settings evidence from Dessie and Combolcha cities, north-central Ethiopia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urban food systems: Factors associated with food insecurity in the urban settings evidence from Dessie and Combolcha cities, north-central Ethiopia |
| title_short | Urban food systems: Factors associated with food insecurity in the urban settings evidence from Dessie and Combolcha cities, north-central Ethiopia |
| title_sort | urban food systems factors associated with food insecurity in the urban settings evidence from dessie and combolcha cities north central ethiopia |
| topic | Urban food system Associations Food insecurity Mixed research design North-central Ethiopia |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023016894 |
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