Does Urban Agriculture Help to Win the Battle Against Food Insecurity? Evidence from City Administrations of Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Document Type : Research paper

Authors

Wolkite University, Gubrei, Wabe Bridge, Welkite, Ethiopia

Abstract

With the rise in capital wealth and human populations, cities need more food input. This study assessed the impact of urban agriculture on improving food security in four town administrations of Gurage Zone. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The primary data was collected from 340 sampled adopters using interviews, focus group discussions, and observation. Chi-square and t-tests enabled comparisons among percentages and mean differences between adopters and non-adopters of urban agriculture. The propensity score matching (PSM) model enabled an assessment of the urban agricultural impact on food security. The statistical analysis revealed a statistically significant mean difference between adopters and non-adopters in job status, perception toward urban agriculture, and family size. The logit model showed that family size, ownership of living home, job status of HH head, perception toward urban agriculture, market demand, and training and support significantly determined the adoption of urban agriculture. The results of PSM indicated that adopting urban agriculture improved food security. Thus, the likelihood of being food secure would increase by a factor of 0.60, ceteris paribus. The study suggested that education, urban agriculture, and cooperative offices can teach urban dwellers via an integrated functional adult education program for training purposes and support them more in cooperative organization. The adoption of urban agriculture helps to win the battle against food insecurity. 

Keywords

International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology
Volume 12, Issue 2
April 2025
Pages 145-158

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History

  • Receive Date: 18 October 2023
  • Revise Date: 03 February 2024
  • Accept Date: 11 February 2024

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