Abstract:
Food security is a difficult concept to measure since it deals in very broad terms with the
production, distribution and consumption of food. Food insecurity on the other hand lends itself
more readily to measurement and analysis. Food security refers to the availability of food
whereas famine and hunger are the consequence of the non-availability of food, in other words
the results of food insecurity. This study investigated the determinants of food security and
identified the major factors that jointly discriminate the rural households of Amhara region into
food insecure, marginally food secure and food secure households. The study is made based on
the 2015/2016 Household Consumption and Expenditure Survey (HCES) which were conducted
by Central Statistical Agency (CSA). Calorie method was employed to determine food security.
To achieve the objective of this study descriptive statistics, chi-square test of association and
partial proportional odds model and related tests were used for data analysis using socio economic and demographic related variables as explanatory variables and household food
security as the response variables. The descriptive results revealed that about 41.14% of the
households are food insecure, 13.60% marginally food secure and 45.26% were food secure.
The result of the partial proportional odds model revealed that the variables marital status,
education, household size, religion, income and employment status were found to be significant
determinants of household food security. As rural part of Amhara region is constantly facing
food insecurity and famines, there is a need for integrating famine relief and prevention
strategies at the regional level with the overall development strategy.