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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 11, No. 6
Publication Date: June 25, 2024
DOI:10.14738/assrj.116.17037.
Mossissa, A. T., Mulongo, L. S., & Mining, P. (2024). Dynamics towards Sustainable Food Security in Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL)
Parts of Oromia Regional State in Ethiopia. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(6). 79-97.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Dynamics towards Sustainable Food Security in Arid and Semi- Arid Land (ASAL) Parts of Oromia Regional State in Ethiopia
Almaz Taffesse Mossissa
School of Arts and Social Sciences, Moi University, Kenya
Leonard Simiyu Mulongo
School of Arts and Social Sciences, Moi University, Kenya
Pacifica Mining
School of Arts and Social Sciences, Moi University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
The main question policymakers as well as researchers are facing is ascertaining an
appropriate way for sustainable food security in most ASAL parts of Africa. The
efficacy of interventions is often hindered by lack of comprehensive understanding
of local contexts and the socioeconomic landscape such as insufficient
infrastructure and an inequitable distribution of resources that further complicate
efforts, exacerbating food insecurity. The paper is based on a study undertaken in
the Oromia region of Ethiopia, whose main objective was to assess the dynamics
towards sustainable food security in the study area. The study used mixed method
research approach and convergent research design. Using multistage and
systematic random sampling techniques, a sample size of 397 households was
generated from the 58,632 target household population of the study area. Data was
collected using questionnaires, focus group discussions, and structured interviews.
Results from regression analysis showed that there was a statistically significant
negative correlation between restricted mobility (P-value=.000), land degradation
(P-value=.031), biodiversity loss (P-value=.001), water shortage (P-value=.027),
conflict (P-value=.000), and poor market facilities (P-value=.022) and household
food production (at P-value <0.05). The study concludes that sustainable food
security can be achieved by empowering the people through enhancing access to
land resources and improving their market integration. It is, therefore, been
recommended that coordinated efforts by national, regional, and local government
bodies be undertaken to enhance food security sustainability by strengthening
essential services such as market networks, raising awareness, and implementing
policies that facilitate communities’ access to and sustainable utilization of land
resources.
Keywards: ASAL, Dynamics, Ethiopia, Oromia, Sustainable food security.
INTRODUCTION
The World Food Summit emphasizing sustainability over time, describes food security as a
situation “...when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and
nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for active and healthy life” [50,
20]. Food availability dimension in this definition of food security refers to the consistent
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 11, Issue 6, June-2024
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
presence of a sufficient amount and appropriate variety of food supplies through domestic
production, import/exchange or food aid. The decline in food availability was the earlier
explanation for hunger and food insecurity during the 1970s, mainly attributed to climate
change and increasing population [14, 37].
The access dimension of food security concerns to individuals physical and economic ability to
secure food. This perspective shifted the focus of food security in the 1980s from macro-level
national food production to micro-level individual access to adequate resources [14, 20].
Utilization addresses the nutritional value and food safety. Subsequently, the World Bank
introduced the stability dimension, emphasizing the need for the three dimensions to be
sustained overtime even amidst temporal dynamics such as sudden climatic shocks, economic
downturns, health crises and conflicts or during seasonal variations [20, 13].
Ensuring sustainable food security remains elusive, particularly in arid and semi-arid land
(ASAL) parts of Africa. This is evident from the numerous intervention efforts made in these
parts, where no clear picture has emerged, and outcomes often fall short of long-term
sustainability goals. ASAL parts are among the most affected areas by global climate change
[47]. These regions are characterized by climatic shocks such as droughts, temperature
fluctuations, rainfall variability, floods, soil erosion, and disease outbreaks in both livestock and
humans, all of which have an adverse impact on agricultural food production, subsequently
affecting people’s food security [47, 10]. This has been compounded by the numerous
challenges of ascertaining intervention strategies that not only address immediate food needs
but also resilience against future crises. Previous studies have shown that inappropriate
government development policies, weak governance, and conflicts leading to livelihood
vulnerability were sources of famine in these parts of the county [5, 15].
The ASAL parts covers about 60% of Ethiopia’s total land area, and between 13-15% of the
country’s population make their livelihood from this part of the country. Pastoralism and semi- pastoralism are the major food production strategies in the ASAL parts of Ethiopia, and
communities in the areas depend on livestock rearing, although crop farming and irrigation are
also practiced to some extent. However, the populations in ASAL parts of Ethiopia are
characterized by chronic food insecurity and poverty with growing dependency on aid due to
increasing dynamics despite governments’ efforts through the implementation of various food
security policies and programs [41].
Like in the other parts of Africa, ASAL parts of Ethiopia are fragile ecosystems with scarce
resources most affected by the global climate change. High rainfall variability that causes
shortages of water, drought and spread of human and livestock diseases affect agricultural
productivity and cause food shortages in these areas [26]. However, scholars argue that food
production in Ethiopia’s ASAL parts faces intricate dynamics that profoundly affect people’s
food production systems and undermine their adaptation strategies. These dynamics are
influenced by macro-level political events, such as shifts in land use policies. Studies show that
Ethiopia’s land use policy changes, including the expansion of mega projects, sedentarization,
crop farming, and the Productive Safety net Programme (PSNP), as mechanisms for enhancing
food security, have hardily alleviated poverty and food insecurity in these regions [24].
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Mossissa, A. T., Mulongo, L. S., & Mining, P. (2024). Dynamics towards Sustainable Food Security in Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) Parts of Oromia
Regional State in Ethiopia. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(6). 79-97.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.116.17037
Additionally, ASAL areas pastoral and agro-pastoral communities highly depend on the market
to generate income, for the exchange of livestock and livestock products for cereals and other
food commodities as well as for livelihood diversification. However, parts communities in these
fragile lands have weak market integration due to poorly developed infrastructure and limited
access to market information. Increasing conflict over access to resources has also increased in
the region due to land use policy changes ([19]. Livelihood diversification strategies are poorly
developed in these parts of the country and the communities have poor adaptive capacities.
Employment and income earning opportunities are often restricted to activities that do not
generate sufficient income to mitigate the growing shocks and stresses resulting from dynamic
changes in the area, thus impeding their capacity to meet their food needs. Thus, the challenge
of climate change, along with intricate socioeconomic and environmental dynamics has
continued to pose significant obstacles to achieve food security and people in these parts of the
country suffer from the highest poverty and food insecurity [41, 43, 27]. By assessing the
dynamics of food security in Fantale and Boset districts of Oromia region in Ethiopia, this study
aims to identify and address the underlying drivers of food insecurity, promoting a sustainable
food system in these areas.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Food insecurity and widespread poverty remained persistent in ASAL parts of Ethiopia due to
various factors that challenged the food production system in the area. The productivity of
sedentary farming that was implemented in ASAL parts as adaptation strategy for food security
has been challenged by multiple dynamics besides the region’s climatic extremes such as
recurrent drought and rainfall variability. Land privatization and continued communal land
expropriation that followed the government’s land use policy changes has restricted pastoral
and agro-pastoral communities’ access to land resources and increased inequalities in
accessing and controlling over land resources in these parts of the country. These changes
affected negatively the food production system in these parts of the country and resulted in
natural resources degradation, and poor productivity have resulted in the pastoral and agro- pastoral households’ food shortage and destitution.
The quest for sustainable food security in the ASAL parts of Ethiopia demands a holistic
explanation of food system as a whole, rather than a fragmented focus on isolated issues.
Scholars argue that food security extends beyond mere food availability to include conserving
natural resources, promoting ecosystem resilience, and supporting equitable access to
livelihood resources for vulnerable groups [8, 40, 29, 18]. They emphasize that the study of food
security must encompass the entire food system to understand the complex interplay of factors
driving food insecurity. This perspective indicates that achieving sustainability in food security
involves addressing social, economic, environmental well-being, in addition to the traditional
dimensions of food security.
From the premises, linear research models that focus solely on specific aspects of food security,
such as food availability and access, may not adequately capture the critical social, economic
and ecological dimensions of sustainability within the food system. Therefore, a more
systematic analysis that considers the overall food system is necessary to understand the
causes of vulnerability to food insecurity. This approach requires analyzing dynamics that
affects the social, economic and environmental sustainability to grasp how these factors
collectively influence sustainable food security. Such wider view will not only shed light on the