Willene Joan D Costa

NASE 318
Professor Kiszewski
12/11/14
Food Security in Ethiopia
Ethiopia, located in Sub Saharan Africa, is one of the many countries in the world that is
the most affected by food insecurity. Food security in Ethiopia has comparatively improved in
recent years. However, due to factors such as political set up, severe poverty, climate, etc., this
problem is far from being solved.
In recent years, Ethiopias economy has grown considerably as compared to other SubSaharan countries. However, on the United Nations Development Projects HDI, Ethiopia is
ranked 174th (out of 187 countries); approximately 29% of all Ethiopians live below the poverty
line (IFAD 2014). It has been estimated that more than 3 million of Ethiopias total population
has been haunted by the lack of a secure access to food (Bomba, Glickman).
The main occupation in Ethiopia is agriculture. Yet food insecurity still persists. Due to
monetary and political reasons only 25% of the total cultivable land is actually being used (IFAD
2014). A majority of the land being used to cultivate crops is only being used for subsistence
farming which has very low productivity; 12.7 million smallholder farmers harvest
approximately 95% of the countrys agricultural GDP (IFAD 2014). Due to this nature of
farming practices, these farmers are exceedingly vulnerable to volatile global markets, social
unrest, famine and drought, and other natural disasters. Smallholder farmers form the largest

group of poverty ridden Ethiopians as a majority of them struggle to cultivate enough food to for
the sustenance of their households. Another major factor to overall food insecurity is climate and
the lack of adequate rainfall. Due to increasing global temperatures as well as the location of
Ethiopia in terms of its proximity to the equator, prolonged and severe droughts have become
more frequent over the last few years and this trend is expected to worsen over time. This sort of
climate has a huge negative impact on smallholder farmers, especially those living in the lowland
countryside or in the high density areas of the highlands. (IFAD 2014).
While these issues are two of the most cited reasons for food insecurity in Ethiopia, many
tend to overlook the role that inapt agricultural and land tenure policies play in causing food
insecurity (Nichola). In the past four decades Ethiopia has been under three different
governments with very different political ideologies and different land tenure and agricultural
policies. However, the ultimate result tends to be the same- inadequate access of land to the
regular farmer (Nichola). During the period of 1961-1974, when Ethiopia was ruled by Emperor
Haile Sellassie, the agricultural sector was predominantly feudal (Nichola). In 1974 when the
Derg deposed off the Emperor and took over the rule of Ethiopia, the government adopted an
orthodox Marxist approach (Nichola). Contrary to the theory of this approach, this plan had a
disastrous effect on food marketability. The current government which has been in power since
1991, is a coalition party known as the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front
(Nichola). The EPRDF is known for their move to liberalize trade and permit private sector
import and export (Nichola). However, land tenure under the rule of the EPRDF continues to be
restrictive and hence is a huge cause of insecurity (Nichola). This restrictive tenure policy gives
the state an exceedingly large amount of control over the total population out of which 85% live
in rural areas and depend on farming (Nichola). But, the government fails to realize that

agriculture continues to be fragmented and restricted with plot sizes that are not viable for
intensive food cultivation (Nichola).
Another cause of food insecurity in Ethiopia could be the access to food. The commonly
accepted notion of food security follows from the 1996 World Food Summit definition: when
all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and
active life (WHO 2014). Initially, food security was mainly perceived in terms of the supply of
food (Nichola). Taking into consideration the famines in East Africa and the food supply they
have received in terms of aid which did not really alleviate the issue (Nicola) a new and more
relevant kind of food security indicator has emerged from a demand perspective where access to
food is taken into priority (Maxwell et al.). In 1981, Amartya Sen used his entitlement theory to
explain the importance of the demand side in the food security equation (Nichola). According to
this theory, the two main failures are (1) endowment failures, where crop production fails due to
climatic causes, and (2) trade failures due to sudden change in the markets (Nichola). These in
turn cause a rapid increase in food prices and hence access to food by certain parts of the society,
especially in rural areas, is diminished greatly (Nichola). One can easily apply this theory to the
case in Ethiopia where agricultural practices and trade are restricted, and crop production is low
due to climatic conditions.
Food insecurity can have a variety of crippling effects on society, some being physical in
nature while others being behavioral in nature. From a physical perspective, food security is
usually linked with physical health issues such as weakening of the immune system,
susceptibility to diseases, physical deformities, etc. But many fail to realize that food insecurity
can even lead to neurological disorders. Various studies conducted by Takle Haimanot have
shown that food insecurity can be related to frequent occurrence of disorders such as epilepsy

with an occurrence of 520/100,000; post poliomyelitis paralysis with an occurrence of

240/100,000; mental retardation with an occurrence of 170/100,000; peripheral neuropathy with
an occurrence of 150/100,000; and deaf- mutism with an occurrence of 130/100,000 (Takle
Haimanot et al.). Though less frequent, food insecurity can also be related to hemiparesis which
had a rate of incidence of 62/100,000; cerebral palsy which had a rate of incidence of
20/100,000; optic atrophy which had a rate of incidence of 16/100,000 (Takle Haimanot et al.).
Also, perceptive deafness occurred 12/100,000 times; tropical spastic paraparesis occurred
10/100,000 times; Parkinsons disease occurred 7/100,000 times; and motor neuron disease,
ataxia, and chorea/athetosis, each occurred at the rate of 5/100,000. (Takle Haimanot et al.)
In a 2010 study that was conducted by El Sayed et al. in the rural Jimma zone,
specifically in the Gilgel Gibe area, severe food insecurity was prevalent among 24.7% of the
sample (El Sayed et al.). The occupation in this area is primarily agricultural and the residents of
this area suffer from severe food insecurity. Out of a sample of 550 households, the study
received a total response rate of 82% (El Sayed et al.). The outcome of the study showed that
vision dysfunction was the most prevalent amongst all of the symptoms; 60.9% of the entire
sample reported to have been suffering from diplopia or temporary vision loss in the week prior
to the study (El Sayed et al.). Seizures were the least prevalent of all the neurological disorders
with an occurrence of only 6.3% of the sample suffering from a seizure in the week prior to the
study (El Sayed et al.). 48.1% of the sample stated the occurrence of comorbidity i.e. symptoms
that coincided with two or more symptom categories (El Sayed et al.). In general, the level of
comorbidity was very high among outcomes (El Sayed et al.). It was observed that all outcomes
were most comorbid with vision dysfunction and the least comorbid with seizures (El Sayed et
al.).

(El Sayed et al. page 4)

It is always taken for granted that people living in urban settings are better off than those
living in rural settings. For the most part this is true. However, the recent global food and
financial crisis has led to the issue of food security in urban areas of developing countries (Gebre
164-168). The urban population in Ethiopia is on the rise. While most of the food security studies
revolve around the rural parts of Ethiopia, where most of the population as well as the poorest
people reside, there is a need to pay close attention to the increasing food insecurity in urban
areas as well due to the increasing global food prices (Gebre 164-168). This food insecurity is
also fueled by various specifically urban problems such as unemployment, increasing cost of
living, etc. (Gebre 164-168).
According to the World Food Program, the main causes of food insecurity in urban areas, just
as it is in rural areas, are access to food, supply of food to the markets, food purchasing power,
access to markets, amongst others (Gebre 164-168). In Ethiopia, reasons for urban food
insecurity have been stated to be household size, age of [the] household, sex of household head,

marital status of household, education level of household, dependency ratio, access to credit,
ownership of saving account, total income per adult equivalent, expenditure level (food and nonfood), asset possession, access to social services, owner of home garden, access to subsidized
food, sources of food, availability of food commodities, and supply of food commodities (Gebre
161). In a study conducted by Gebre in Addis Ababa, a sample of 423 households were taken
from the Young Lives Site in the city (Gebre 164-168). Out of this sample, 58.16% of households
were unable to meet their sustenance needs (Gebre 164-168). Moreover, each insecure household
would need an additional 20% of their daily caloric intake in order to meet the minimum caloric
requirements (Gebre 164-168). The study also deduced that food insecurity increased with age
(63.39%) and relative size of the family (80.71%). Moreover, illiterate households tend to be
severely food insecure (73.86) (Gebre 164-168).
Hence there is a need to ensure that families do not have an excessive amount of dependents
which brings into play the importance of family planning (Gebre 164-168). There is also a need
to provide older family heads with capacity building tools so that they can maintain the
household (Gebre 164-168). However, most important of all is the need for formal as well as
informal education. The more educated the head of the household is, the more food secure the
family is (Gebre 164-168).
In order to alleviate the Ethiopian population from food insecurity, the Ethiopian
government has set up Ethiopias Food Security Program which provides income transfers
through public works in its Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) (Hoddinot et al). It has also
provided targeted services through the Other Food Security Program (OFSP) and, the Household
Asset Building Program (HABP), which is intended to improve agricultural output (Hoddinot et
al). Ethiopias Food Security Program (FSP) is a unique example of a large-scale national food

safety net program that provides poor households with productivity-enhancing investments or
microenterprise development (Hoddinot et al).
The Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) started in 2005 (Hoddinot et al). Since its
inception, the PSNP has provided support in the form of income to more than 7 million poor
people (Hoddinot et al). The program has managed to do so by encouraging member of these
households to participate in large-scale public works projects (Hoddinot et al). For families with
limited labor capacity, the program provides unlimited direct support (Hoddinot et al). Moreover,
the Other Food Security Program (OFSP) and the Household Asset Building Program (HABP)
provide support and training to in order to use improved seeds, conduct soil and water
conservation, improve irrigation or undertake beekeeping (Hoddinot et al).
Initially, households that participate in the public works programs under the PSNP,
received cash transfers of 6 birr per day or in- kind transfers amounting to 3 kg of cereals
(Hoddinot et al). In 2010, the cash transfers eventually increased to10 birr per day in order to
compensate for the huge rise in global cereal prices (Hoddinot et al). The objective of the PSNP
is to offer food insecure households with consistent access to cash or in- kind transfers (Hoddinot
et al).
The public works program in the PNSP is a very critical element of the entire program
because it provides local communities with the opportunity to revamp their environment by
building essential communal infrastructure like roads, schools, and clinics in exchange for the
ability to feed themselves (World Bank Social Protection Team). This has not only helped reduce
overall food insecurity, but it has also helped small communities to jumpstart their development
process (World Bank Social Protection Team).

However, it is important to note that Ethiopia has effectively reduced the percentage of
people living in extreme poverty from 55% in 2000, to 29.6% in 2011 (Bomba, Glickman). This
is indeed a very large drop in poverty levels (Bomba, Glickman). With PNSP program the
average food supply as improved by 117 kcals per day as of 2013, which means that there is
enough food to provide Ethiopians with another small meal per day. (Bomba, Glickman).
Fighting food insecurity is a hard battle, and Ethiopia is still quite far from completely
conquering it. Food insecurity is Ethiopia has been projected to continue for years to come.
However, food security in 2006, which was an average of 8.5 months, improved to 10.1 months
of food security in 2012 (World Bank Social Protection Team). This clearly shows that Ethiopia
is on the right path to overcoming food insecurity.

Work Cited
El Sayed, Abdulrahman, Craig Hadley, Fasil Tesema, Ayelew Tegegne, John Cowan Jr,
and Sandro Galea. "Household Food Insecurity and Symptoms of Neurologic Disorder in
Ethiopia: An Observational Analysis." BMC Public Health 10.802 (2010): 4-9. Web.
<http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/802>.
Gebre, Girma. "DETERMINANTS OF FOOD INSECURITY AMONG HOUSEHOLDS
IN ADDIS ABABA CITY,ETHIOPIA." Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems 10.2
(2012): 165-68. Print.
Hoddinot, John. "The Impact of Ethiopias Productive Safety Net Programme and
Related Transfers on Agricultural Productivity." Journal of African Economies 21.5 (2012): 76183. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C. Web. <10.1093/jae/ejs023>.
IFAD. "Rural Poverty in Ethiopia." Rural Poverty Portal. International Fund for
Agricultural Developmen. Web.
<http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/country/home/tags/ethiopia>.
Maxwell, Daniel, Bapu Vaitla, and Jennifer Coates. "How Do Indicators of Household
Food Insecurity Measure Up? An Empirical Comparison from Ethiopia." Food Policy 47 (2014):
108. Elsevier.com. Web. <www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol>.
Nichola, Tennassie. "THE FOOD SECURITY PROBLEM IN ETHIOPIA A SUPPLY
SIDE ANALYSIS." South African Journal of Economics 74.2 (2006): 315, 319. Print.
Tekle-Haimanot R, Abebe M, Gebre-Mariam A, Forsgren L, Heijbel J,

Holmgren G, Ekstedt J:Community-based study of neurological disorders in rural central

Ethiopia. Neuroepidemiology1990,9(5):263
The World Bank Social Protection Team. "In Ethiopia, Seeing Food Security as a Human
Right." The World Bank- News. The World Bank, 14 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2014/11/14/in-ethiopia-seeing-food-security-ashuman-right>.
WHO 2014. "Food Security." Trade, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy and Health. World
Health Organization, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/>.