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Inclusive malt barley business and household food security in Lay Gayint district of northern Ethiopia

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Abstract

Food security has become a major problem in Ethiopia. To reverse the situation, inclusive businesses, such as malt barley production, are being promoted. However, the determinants of inclusion in the malt barley industry and the food security impacts of inclusion have not been studied systematically. Thus, the objectives of the present research were twofold, namely to investigate the reason for inclusion in, or exclusion from, the malt barley industry, and to examine the food security impacts of inclusion in three villages in Lay Gayint district, northern Ethiopia. The research used a mixed method approach. Survey data were collected from 140 non-included and 103 included farm households. In addition, focus group discussions were held with 18 included and 18 non-included households, as well as with six officials. Three multiple dimensions of food security were considered: food availability, measured by months per year during which households reported having an adequate food supply; food access, indicated by coping strategies employed by the households to secure sufficient food; and food utilisation, measured by food calorie intake, food variety and diet diversity scores, and three anthropometric measures for children under 5 years of age. Quantitative data were analysed using a two stage least square regression model, while qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results indicate that inclusion in the malt barley industry is determined by higher economic status. Older farmers and farmers living far from the main town of the district were excluded. We also show that inclusion in the malt barley industry results in higher incomes, better food access and higher diet diversity scores, but has less impact in terms of food availability, food variety score, per capita kilocalorie consumption and child growth. Based on these findings, we suggest that, in the context of inclusive business for those at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’, one needs to re-frame the targeting process of chain governance and integrate other actors who work on food and nutrition components of rural livelihoods.

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Notes

  1. In Ethiopia, the kebele is the lowest administrative unit.

  2. There are nine regional states in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Each state is autonomous in administering its region.

  3. 1 Ethiopian birr (ETB) is equivalent to 0.037 US dollar (National Bank of Ethiopia, 18 October 2017).

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Acknowledgements

This research was part of the research agenda of the Knowledge Platform Inclusive Development Policies and funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs through NWO–WOTRO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research–Science for Global Development). The support of NWO under the programme ‘Feeder road development for inclusive productive employment’ in preparing this paper is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Geography and Spatial Panning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, 3584, CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Kebede Manjur Gebru, Crelis Rammelt, Maggi Leung, Annelies Zoomers & Guus van Westen

  2. Department of Rural Development and Agricultural Extension, College of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mekelle University, 231, Mekelle, Ethiopia

    Kebede Manjur Gebru

  3. Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, 1090, GE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Crelis Rammelt

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  1. Kebede Manjur Gebru
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Correspondence to Kebede Manjur Gebru.

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Gebru, K.M., Rammelt, C., Leung, M. et al. Inclusive malt barley business and household food security in Lay Gayint district of northern Ethiopia. Food Sec. 11, 953–966 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-019-00939-6

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