Analysis of livelihood diversification practice to promote rural households food security: The case of Hawassa Zuria District of Sidama Zone, Ethiopia

The livelihood diversification increases sources of income and smoothens consumption by promoting rural food security. In Ethiopia little attention has been given to livelihood diversification and the numerous factors that determine the abilities of rural household‘s choice of different livelihood activities. Thus, the objective of this study is to generate location specific data regarding the livelihood diversification and its role in attaining household‘s food security. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 191 sample households, by undertaking structured questionnaire to obtain data pertaining to livelihood diversification and its implication to food security during the year of 2016. Additionally, key informant interview, focus group discussion and observation were the principal methods used to generate data. Descriptive statistics and ordered logit regression model were used to analyze quantitative data. The result of ordered logit model showed that education level of household-head, land size of household, annual income of household head, membership of households in the organization, credit utilization, and access of extension services were significant in determining the livelihood diversification of households in the study area. On the other hand, while age and family size of households were found to be negatively correlated (P<0.5) and related to household level of livelihood diversification. Moreover, the findings of this study gave insight into factors affecting livelihood diversification and its importance to food security. Therefore, government should promote livelihood diversification in order to promote food security in the area. Key words: Education level, household size, livelihood diversification, ordered logit model, rural households.