Kihen, Ihe sludy site, is characterized by lang periods of drought and unreliable rainfallrncompounded by excessive human and livestock pressures. Farmers adopt different copingrnmechanisms, such as the introduction of prickly pear, popularly known as Beles. The mainrnobjective of this research was therefore, to assess the contribution of caclus to household foodrnsecurity and 10 identify the major production and marketing constraints. Because of Ihe aboveaveragernendowment with the prickly pear caClus, and as it is one of the major cactus growingrntabias (Kebelles) in Kilte Awlaelo Woreda (Eastern zone of the Tigray region), the tabia Kihen,rnwas selected purposely. Three villages are included under the tabia and sample households wererntaken from all the three villages. Based on the sampling frame, household heads were stratifiedrninlo cactus-growers and non-growers. A systematic random sampling method was used to selectrn120 respondents, of which 90 were cactus grower and thirty non-grower household heads. Arnstructured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data was collected using householdrnsurvey and key informant interviews and focus group discussions. A number of statisticalrnmethods, descriptive as well as multivariate models, were employed to interpret the data. Therndescriptive analysis revealed thai, of the overall contribution of the different coping strategies inrnfilling the food gaps, safety-nel followed by cactus stood as the most important copingrnmechanisms among the cactus growers. On the other hand, among the non-growers, large sharernof the rating goes to safety-net. The multiple regression analysis using total income as arndependent variable against other determinant factors revealed that variables such as oxenrnownership, TLU, farm size and cactus holding have a positive and significant influence to thernprobability of increased income level in the study area, in agreement with a priori expectations.rnTo identify a useful subset of predictors that well discrim inate among cactus growers based onrntheir income from cactus sell as a fruit and feed, a stepwise regression analysis was run.rnApparently, cactus holding and family size showed a positive and significanl value whereasrngender showed a negalive bUI significanl association wilh income of the grower households. Inrnthe ordered probit regression analysis, excepl donkey ownership, variables such as TLU, farmrnsize and cactus holding are positively and significantly associated wilh Ihe increasing level ofrnincome. The linear discriminanl analysis also supported Ihe result obtained by ordered probitrnregression modellhal variables such as growers/non-growers grouping, cactus holding, farm sizernand TLU showed Ihe highest loading and is important variables in discriminating the householdsrnbased on the tolal income oblained from various sources including caclus. Taking togelher thernincome obtained from cactus, crop and animal production, almosl all cactus grower farmers lendrn10 have better income Ihan Ihe non-growers do. The currenl study revealed Ihal cactus is thernmajor source of food, livestock feed and income in the study tabia. The income collecled from thernsale of caclus is helping the caclus growers to cover the cost of household items, covering schoolrnfee for their children, and cost of other necessities. Therefore, efforts that improve thernmanagement and utilization of the cactus crop in the tabia could help attain food security, andrnimprove the livelihood of the cactus grower households in tabia Kihen. The women-headedrnhouseholds were also found to benefit 1II0re from the cultivation of caclus as compared to thernmale-headed households. This is a good indication thai any support Ihat help to boosl cactusrnproduction, management and post-harvest handling and improved access and marketing networkrnwill ultimately increase the income and benefit of women-headed households from caclus.rnImproving access 10 markel and transportation facility, improving post harvesl handlingrnpractices and reliable market could enable the farmers to selilheir produce at reasonable pricesrnwith improvement in their bargaining power as well as reducing losses that could occur duringrnthe transportation and marketing of Ihe fruit. The socioeconomic factors associated with cactusrnproduction, that affects the household income, and possible policy directions and incentivernstrategies are discussed