Aregawi Beyene^1,, Kebede Manjur Gebru², Tekleyohannes Hailekiros³, Azeb Gebreegziabher⁴

People living in developing countries, such as Ethiopia, suffer from food insecurity and lack of access to nutrition. Hence, this study aimed to assess the food security status of rural households and identify the factors that influence food security. For the purpose of this study 173 households were selected randomly from two peasant association of Atsbi district. Therefore, data were collected using household survey. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ordered probit model. The findings indicated that the majority of households had high diet diversity, this suggests that they had access to a wide range of food groups. Despite the high dietary diversity, the study revealed that a significant proportion of households experienced food insecurity. Most households had higher household food insecurity access scale and this indicates an inability to access sufficient and nourishing food. Moreover, the results indicates that income, gender, land size, farm experience, potato farming, and access to extension are positively associated with food security. Generally, household food insecurity was measured at a greater level showing that diet diversity at household level is not a guarantee to stay food secured. In light of these results, this study suggests that more gender-based capacity-building initiatives are necessary to ensure food security at household level.

food security, diet diversity, household food insecurity access scale, extension service, income