RURAL LIVELIHOOD VULNERABILITY AND FOOD SECURITY UNDER THE RISKS OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND LARGE HOUSEHOLD SIZE IN DAMOT WOYDE DISTRICT, SOUTHERN ETHIOPI

Abstract

Ethiopia's economy is mainly reliant on rain-fed agriculture, which is very susceptible to climate-related stressors. High food insecurity status and population pressure aggravate the livelihood vulnerability of rural households to shocks in the Wolaita zone, where the study district found. Building livelihood resilience necessitates minimizing exposure and susceptibility while strengthening capacity to absorb, adapt, and transform continuous climatic shocks. In this regard, the objectives of the study were to analyze the agro-climatic zone-specific vulnerability and responses of rural farm households to climate-induced shocks; to assess rural livelihood resilience to climate-induced shocks and their adaptation strategies; to examine the role of livelihood diversification in determining food security status; and to analyze the impacts of household sizes on rural farm households‘ savings, consumption expenditure, children‘s education, and the health of household members. The study included 346 rural farm household heads across the two agro-climatic zones that were selected through a multistage sample process. Six focus group discussions, 27 key informant interviews, and personal observations were conducted to substantiate the survey results. The Livelihood Vulnerability and Resistance Index were used to estimate rural households' vulnerability and resistance to climate-induced shocks. The Household Food Balance Model and Household Food Insecurity Access Scale were used to assess the food security of rural households. Econometric models used include MANOVA, linear regression, binary regression, and ordinary logit regression. The findings reveal that increasing exposure to low adaptive capacity leads to increased vulnerability in the Kolla agro-climate zone, but lower exposure to relatively larger adaptive capacity leads to lower vulnerability in the Woina Dega agro-climate zone. Furthermore, low absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacity to shocks results in low resilience capacity (0.356) in both agro-climate zones, though Woina Dega hit a little bit. Food insecurity and population pressure were another aggravating factors in the livelihood vulnerability of the study households. According to the findings, 77% of Kolla and 69% of Woina Dega (HFBM) households are food insecure. Also, just 11.5% of Kolla and 22.2% of Woina Dega (HFIAS) households reported food security. Additionally, increasing the number of dependent family members without raising incomes diminishes savings, increases consumption expenses, and limits households' financial ability to invest in their children's education and cover household members' health costs. Thus, it is preferable to xiii suggest that local government, non-governmental organizations and farmers work together to develop agro-climatic zone-based resilience-building adaptation strategies to reduce livelihood vulnerability, diversify livelihoods to address food insecurity and promote savings, and limit household size to invest in human capital in the study area.