Mekelle University College of Business and Economics
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Mekelle University College of Business and Economics Department of Management The Status of Resettled Households on Food Security: (The Case of Kafta Humera Woreda, Tigray, Ethiopia) By Bahabelom Ebuy A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Arts in Development studies Advisor: Assefa Abegaz (PhD) Co-advisor: Kahsu Mebrahtu(Asst. Professor) February, 2010 Mekelle, Ethiopia Declaration This is to certify that this thesis entitled ―The status of Resettled Households on Food Security: The Case of Kafta Humera Woreda‖ submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of MA, in Development Studies to the College of Business and Economics, Mekelle University, through the Department of Management, done by Ato Bahabelom Ebuy, Id.No. FBE/PR0008/00 is an authentic work carried out by him under my guidance. The matter embodied in this project work has not been submitted earlier for award of any degree or diploma to the best of my knowledge and belief. Name of the student Bahabelom Ebuy Signature ______________ date_________________ Advisor Asefa Abegaz(Ph.D) Signature ______________ date____________ Co-advisor Kahsu Mebrahtu (Asst.Proff) Signature ______________ date___________ i ABSTRACT Food security in Ethiopia has remained an unfulfilled dream for a considerable number of people for a long and continuous period of time .Resettlement program is, thus, one among different development alternatives designed and implemented by the existing government to help people from densely populated and drought prone areas as well as displaced citizens and the unemployed youth get work and live in fertile areas of the country so as to do away with the resultant problems. This being so, this research work is undertaken to critically appreciate the program by examining the food security status of resettlers in the study area ; assessing the determinants of household food security differentials ;assessing the impact of the program on the environment ; and forwarding certain suggestions for ways of improving the program should the need arise. To this end, Descriptive statistics,Aggregated Household Food Security Index (AHFSI) , food balance sheet and binary logit model were used. Both primary and secondary data were also employed in getting the necessary information for the analysis of the study. ‘Tabias’ with settlers for a relatively longer period of time and with relatively larger forest wild life were selected in order to respectively reflect the degree of food security or otherwise in households and the consequences of resettlement on environment. Sampling in each ‘Tabia’ was based on the proportion of the population in the respective ‘Tabias’. As a result, taking food poverty line (2200 kcal) as a yardstick, it was found that around 68 % (i.e., 2/3) of households in the study area are food secure while the remaining balance of 32% (i.e.,1/3) of the households are insecure. Moreover, the result was also reinforced by the fact that the resettlers are food secure (and self-sufficient) at household level witnessed by both AHFSI and food balance sheet of the Woreda. All in all, this state of affair indicates that resettled households are food secure and self sufficient in food in the areas visited for the study. The result of the logistic regression model revealed that among the fifteen variables considered in the model, four explanatory variables were found to be significant up to less than 10 % probability level. These significant variables include farm size, initial income, irrigation use and age of household heads. Identifying and understanding factors that are responsible for household food security status and its determinants is important to combat food security problems at the household level. The study findings suggest that in selecting priority intervention areas, the food security strategy should consider statistically significant variables as the most important areas. Study on development program will, however, be meaningless if it passes by without touching developments effect on environment. In a nut shell, the achieved objectives of the development program may not be sustainable if the negative environmental impacts of resettlement continue unchecked. ii Acknowledgement First and for most I would like to extend my heart felt thanks to my advisor Assefa Abegaz (PhD) for his genuine and constructive professional comments without which the quality of this paper would not have been like this. My special thanks also goes to my co-advisor Kahsu Mebrahtu (Asst. Professor) for his valuable comments and advises during the proposal preparation and thesis writing. My genuine appreciation goes to my friends especially Ato Taffesse W. (Msc) and Tewodros T. (Msc) for their general comments, concern and encouragements during my research work. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my family, relatives and real friends for their encouragement and inspiration, which made the study a success. Above all, many thanks go to the Almighty God who is always behind every success in one‘s attempt. iii Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................................................... 1 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Background and Justification .......................................................................................... 11 1.2. Problem Statement ......................................................................................................... 13 1.3. Objective of the Study ...................................................................................................... 5 1.3.1. General objective ....................................................................................................... 5 1.3.2. The specific objectives are: ........................................................................................ 5 1.4. Research hypothesis ......................................................................................................... 5 1.5. Scope of the study ............................................................................................................ 6 1.6. Significance of the study .................................................................................................. 7 1.7. Organization of the study.................................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER TWO.................................................................................................................................................... 9 2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 9 2.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 9 2.2. Concept and definitions .................................................................................................... 9 2.2.1. Definition of terms..................................................................................................... 9 2.2.2. Understanding the concept of resettlement ............................................................... 10 2.2.3. The concept of food security .................................................................................... 21 2.3. Food security situation in Ethiopia.................................................................................. 23 2.4. Consumption poverty in Ethiopia ................................................................................... 26 2.5. Food insecure weredas in Tigray .................................................................................... 27 2.6. Development in measuring food security: ....................................................................... 28 2.7. Evolution of Resettlement in Ethiopia ............................................................................ 29 2.8. Debates on the Effectiveness of Resettlement Program to Food Security Attainment Error! iv Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER THREE ...............................................................................................................................................35 3. MATERIAL AND METHODS ..........................................................................................................................35 3.1. Description of the study area .......................................................................................... 35 3.2. Study site selection ......................................................................................................... 37 3.3. Household sample selection .............................................................................................. v 3.4. Type and sources of data .................................................................................................. v 3.5. Data Analysis ................................................................................................................... v 3.6. Variables and analytical methods .................................................................................... 42 3.6.1. Measuring food self-sufficiency & food security ...................................................... 42 3.6.2. Inferential statistics .................................................................................................