Dimensions of food insecurity and livelihood strategies among rural households in Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia

Based on household-level data gathered from 115 randomly selected rural locations in Dire Dawa, the extent of food security and livelihoods strategies was scrutinised. Food insecurity was found to be a severe problem in the area with 76% of the households being food insecure, and with a food-insecurity gap and severity of food insecurity of 31% and 15%, respectively. The study also identified various livelihood strategies of the rural households, which were found to be a composite of different activities to enable them to make a living. These activities included mixed crop-livestock farming, diversification of crop production, diversification of livestock production, and supplementation of crop and livestock production with off-farm activities. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd