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A Profile of Food Insecurity Dynamics in Rural and Small Town Ethiopia

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  • D’Souza, Anna
  • Jolliffe, Dean

Abstract

Using panel data from the Ethiopia Socioeconomic Survey (ESS), representative of all people living in rural and small-town areas, this paper describes changing patterns of food security between 2012 and 2014. We examine four measures of food security – two consumption based (calories and dietary diversity) and two experience based (whether food insecurity was experienced in any month, and whether any actions were taken in response).Over all four measures in both years, the share of the food insecure population was never less than 25 percent. Disentangling chronic from transitory food insecurity is important for policy design and for estimating the total food insecurity count over time. For example, the average rate of inadequate dietary diversity was approximately 30 percent in both 2012 and 2014, but the panel data reveal that 46 percent of the rural and small-town population had inadequately diverse diets at some point over the period. While the cross-sectional estimates suggest similar patterns in levels and trends of the measures, the panel data reveal that there is very little comovement of the measures. For example, observing that someone has improved in terms of dietary diversity does not reveal information as to whether she or he has similarly improved in terms of the experiential-based measures.

Suggested Citation

  • D’Souza, Anna & Jolliffe, Dean, . "A Profile of Food Insecurity Dynamics in Rural and Small Town Ethiopia," Ethiopian Journal of Economics, Ethiopian Economics Association, vol. 25(2).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:eeaeje:259504
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.259504
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    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/259504/files/D%E2%80%99Souza%20and%20Jolliffe%20_%20A%20Profile%20of%20Food%20Insecurity%20Dynamics.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Berhane, Guush & Paulos, Zelekawork & Tafere, Kibrom & Tamru, Seneshaw, 2011. "Foodgrain consumption and calorie intake patterns in Ethiopia," ESSP working papers 23, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Stefan Dercon & John Hoddinott & Tassew Woldehanna, 2012. "Growth and Chronic Poverty: Evidence from Rural Communities in Ethiopia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(2), pages 238-253, February.
    3. Anna D'Souza & Dean Jolliffe, 2014. "Food Insecurity in Vulnerable Populations: Coping with Food Price Shocks in Afghanistan," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(3), pages 790-812.
    4. Alem, Yonas & Söderbom, Måns, 2012. "Household-Level Consumption in Urban Ethiopia: The Effects of a Large Food Price Shock," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 146-162.
    5. Zelalem Yilma & Anagaw Mebratie & Robert Sparrow & Degnet Abebaw & Marleen Dekker & Getnet Alemu & Arjun S. Bedi, 2014. "Coping with shocks in rural Ethiopia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(7), pages 1009-1024, July.
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    1. Daniel A. Mekonnen & Elise F. Talsma & Laura Trijsburg & Vincent Linderhof & Thom Achterbosch & Aafke Nijhuis & Ruerd Ruben & Inge D. Brouwer, 2020. "Can household dietary diversity inform about nutrient adequacy? Lessons from a food systems analysis in Ethiopia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(6), pages 1367-1383, December.

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