DETERMINANTS and COPING STRATEGIES OF FOOD INSECURITY IN KOBO TOWN, AMHARA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

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Urban food insecurity in Ethiopia is a growing issue with high unemployment rates due to slow economic growth and low investment in urban centers. The study aimed to evaluate the degree, causes, and coping mechanisms of food insecure households in the kobo town using a multistage sampling process to select 156 sample homes at random. Questionnaires, key informants, focus group discussion and document reviews were used to gather data from primary and secondary sources. Initiatives for food security typically focus on rural areas. Binary logit regression modeling, descriptive statistics, and household caloric acquisition were used to examine the data with a mean caloric energy of 1768. According to the data, there was food insecurity in 35.3% and food security in 64.7% of the sample houses, respectively. Household food insecurity has been found to be significantly influenced by a number of factors, including the degree of education of the family head, marital status, income level, saving habits, remittance income level, and urban agriculture. Different coping methods are employed by households facing food insecurity in its early and late stages. These mechanisms include cutting back on meal quantity and frequency, moving to less costly foods, borrowing money, selling assets, and looking for additional job. The research underscores the necessity of focused interventions aimed at improving food security in rural regions, stressing the necessity for urban families to produce revenue, have access to educational and training opportunities, and participate in community-based endeavors. To address the effects of population expansion and job inventiveness, it suggests action-based awareness creation, technical skill training for the jobless, targeted loan access, and increasing education, especially vocational training.