Food Security In Ethiopia

Food security

Food security, as a concept, emerged and became popular in the mid-1970s, during series of international meetings summoned to discuss global food crisis (FAO, 2003). The initial discussions focused on tackling food supply problems like ensuring food availability and stabilizing the price of basic food items worldwide. Food security exists when “all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (World Food Summit, 1996). It has four dimensions namely physical availability of food, economic and physical access to food, proper utilization, and stability. Hence, lack of one or more of these dimensions

chronic [long-term or persistent] and transitory [short-term or temporary] (FAO. 2008). Several studies have documented the existence of pervasive food insecurity in Ethiopia (Dechassa. 1999). For example, WFP (2009) report indicated as food insecurity levels in the rural areas of Ethiopia rose from 2 million people in 1995 to about 14 million in 2008. Out of these 7.5 million people were beneficiaries of the government’s safety net program. Similarly, Belachew et al (2013) reported a negative association between food insecurity and the growth of adolescents, especially girls, in the Jimma area of the southwestern Ethiopia. According to these authors, about 40% of the adolescents in the Jimma area experience malnutrition, one of the manifestations of food insecurity, at least once in their lifetime. Ethiopia is one of the 31 highly food insecure countries in the world; mainly due to unfavorable climate, market failures, conflict, unwise policies, and poor agricultural practices (Yu, You and Fan,

Accordingly, wet processed coffee fetches higher prices of up to 20% more compared to the dry processed coffee of the same type. Arabica coffee is very sensitive to the amount of shade and grows in various systems, in Ethiopia, including in the forest, semi-forest, garden and plantation. Ethiopia’s forest coffee, which is grown under a shade system & purely organic, accounts for up to 30% of the country’s total coffee production and contributes about 10 to 20% of the total export (Stellmacher, Grote & Volkmann. 2010). However, despite supplying top quality coffee to the world, Ethiopian coffee farmers remained poor and live in extreme poverty due to market malfunctions and other structural injustices. As a result, they have been receiving prices far below what their coffee deserves; while other actors along the coffee value chain rip the lucrative benefits (Holmberg.