Assessment Of Household Food Security And Nutritional Status Of Women In The Context Of High Food Price In Addis Ababa

Background: Since recently, the world’s economic crisis, mainly the high food price is increasingrnthe number of poor people and aggravating their living conditions. In big urban areas of Ethiopiarnlike Addis Ababa where populations rely on market based household food supply, increasing pricernof food and nonfood commodities can threaten households’ food security status. In many societies,rnwomen bear the brunt of the food price crisis. Thus, it is crucial to generate evidence about the foodrnsecurity of urban households and women’s nutritional status during time of high food price.rnObjective: To assess households’ food security status and nutritional status of women in the contextrnof high food price in Addis Ababa CityrnMethodology: A community based cross-sectional study using both quantitative and qualitativernmethods was conducted from January 18 to Feburary14, 2012. A total of 550 households werernselected from three sub-cities of Addis Ababa using multi stage sampling technique. Food securityrnstatus was assessed using Household Food Insecurity Access Score, and weight and height were alsornmeasured using standardized weight measuring scale and height measuring board. Data wererncollected using questionnaire based interview with household heads. Qualitative method using focusrngroup discussion was employed to explore the possible effect of food price on household foodrnsecurity, and people’s perception about food security.rnResult: This study found that 75% of households were generally food insecure and 23 % werernalready in hunger state. Reduction in meal size and shifting to poor quality/less expensive foodrntypes/ were common coping strategies to high food price used by households. Household incomernand educational status of household head were significant determinants of food security. Householdsrnwith higher food insecurity score have lower dietary diversity and are less likely to consume highrnquality diets. About 12.7% of women in the sample were underweight while 26% were overweightrnor obese. Being overweight was significantly associated with better dietary diversity of households.rnConclusion and Recommendation: The study revealed that about three fourth of households werernfood insecure which forced them to reduce their meal size and quality with nearly a quarter ofrnhouseholds were suffered from hunger. Household food insecurity was common among the lowrnincome households and those headed by uneducated, daily wagers and government employedrnhousehold heads. Beside subsidization of food items at affordable manner, policy makers shouldrnwork on stabilization of food market, and create opportunities and capacities for households tornincrease their per capita income

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