Assessment of Household Food Insecurity and Associated Factors in Rural Communities of Gondar City Administration
Ethiopia is currently ranked 169 out of 177 countries on the 2007- 2008 Human Development Index and is chronically suffers from food insecurity. Food shortages in Ethiopia aggravate the already poor health of children and adults. Millions of households in rural areas of Ethiopia suffer from chronic food insecurity and receive food aid on an annual basis. Objective:-This study was conducted to determine prevalence of household food insecurity and its associated factors in rural communities of Gondar City Administration, North West Ethiopia. Methods:-Community based cross-sectional study design was employed. Data were collected through house to house interview using household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) which is structured and universally applicable household food insecurity 9 item measurement tools. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were used to determine prevalence of household food insecurity and its associated factors. Result: - 60.8% of the rural households were found to be food insecure in the study area. Out of the total eleven variables included in the logistic regression analysis model only 6 variables namely; livestock ownership (AOR= 2.05, 95%CI = 1.039- 4.022), use of fertilizer (AOR = 4.23, 95% CI = 1.741-10.275), source of potable water (AOR = 4.00, 95% CI = 2.060-7.764), off-farm income (A0R = 2.90, 95% CI = 1.249-6.712), annual farm income (AOR = 3.98, 95% CI = 2.514-6.303) and total annual income (AOR = 3.93, 95% CI = 2.471-6.258) were found to be statistically significant. Conclusion and recommendation: - The majority (60.8%) of households in rural communities of Gondar City Administration is food insecure and factors like livestock ownership, use of fertilizers, source of potable water, off-farm income, farm income and total annual income are found to be significantly associated with household food insecurity in the study area. Thus, Government bodies, NGOs and the community at large should work cooperatively in areas that enable rural households to minimize the problem of food insecurity by overcoming factors associated with it.