Inclusive malt barley business and household food security in Lay Gayint district of northern Ethiopia

Food security has become a major problem in Ethiopia. To reverse the situation, inclusive businesses, such as malt barley production, are being promoted. However, the determinants of inclusion in the malt barley industry and the food security impacts of inclusion have not been studied systematically. Thus, the objectives of the present research were twofold, namely to investigate the reason for inclusion in, or exclusion from, the malt barley industry, and to examine the food security impacts of inclusion in three villages in Lay Gayint district, northern Ethiopia. The research used a mixed method approach. Survey data were collected from 140 non-included and 103 included farm households. In addition, focus group discussions were held with 18 included and 18 non-included households, as well as with six officials. Three multiple dimensions of food security were considered: food availability, measured by months per year during which households reported having an adequate food supply; food access, indicated by coping strategies employed by the households to secure sufficient food; and food utilisation, measured by food calorie intake, food variety and diet diversity scores, and three anthropometric measures for children under 5 years of age. Quantitative data were analysed using a two stage least square regression model, while qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results indicate that inclusion in the malt barley industry is determined by higher economic status. Older farmers and farmers living far from the main town of the district were excluded. We also show that inclusion in the malt barley industry results in higher incomes, better food access and higher diet diversity scores, but has less impact in terms of food availability, food variety score, per capita kilocalorie consumption and child growth. Based on these findings, we suggest that, in the context of inclusive business for those at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’, one needs to re-frame the targeting process of chain governance and integrate other actors who work on food and nutrition components of rural livelihoods.