Document Type : Research paper
Author
Wolkite University, Gubrei, Wabe Bridge, Welkite, Ethiopia
Abstract
With rising wealth and population, there will be a greater need for food in cities. This study was made to assess the impact of urban agriculture on improving food security in four town administrations of Gurage zone. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The primary data was collected from 340 sampled adopters using interview, focus group discussion and observation. Chi-square and t-test were used to compare the percentage and mean difference between adopters and non-adopters of urban agriculture. The propensity score matching (PSM) model was used to assess the impact of urban agriculture on food security. The statistical analysis revealed that there was a statistically significant mean difference between adopters and non-adopters in terms of job status, perception toward urban agriculture and family size. The logit model result revealed that family size, ownership of living home, job status of HH head, perception toward urban agriculture, market demand and training and support significantly affect the adoption of urban agriculture. The result of PSM indicated that the adoption of urban agriculture had an impact on food security provided that if the farmers adopt urban agriculture, the likelihood of being food secure would increase by a factor of 0.60, citrus paribus. The study suggested the town’s education offices, office of urban agriculture and cooperative offices to teach urban dwellers via an integrated functional adult education program and support them more in a cooperative organization since, the adoption of urban agriculture helps to win battle against food insecurity.
Keywords
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