Assess the Determinants of Household Food Security in the Case of Agro-Pastoral Kebeles of Yabello Woreda, Southern Ethiopia

This study was commenced to examine the determinants of household food security in the agro- pastoral kebeles of Yabello woreda. The analysis was based on household survey data gathered from 168 randomly selected household heads in three agro-pastoral kebeles following probability proportional to population size sampling approach (PPS).Descriptive statistics, independent sample t- test, chi-squire tests and binary logistic regression model were used to analyze the data. The results of the analysis show that from the total surveyed households 39.9% were found to be food secured while the remaining 60.1% were food insecure. Five variables which include livestock ownership, household size, size of cultivated land, use of chemical fertilizer and distance to the market were found to be significant factors affecting household status of food security in the logistic regression model output. The findings suggest the need to improve the provision of services that improve livestock and agricultural production and microfinance to encourage the adoption of agricultural technologies. More training is important to encourage diversified crop production by the households. It is also important to improve the provision of basic infrastructural services such as rural roads and markets (especially livestock market centers) to facilitate livelihood diversification. Keywords: Household Food security, Logistic regression, Agro-pastoral, Yabello DOI: 10.7176/JPID/55-01 Publication date: August 31 st 2020