Food insecurity and risk management of smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia

Agriculture is the economic mainstay of Ethiopia. About 80% of the Ethiopian population depends on smallholder agriculture whilst about 6 million of people are food insecure due to limited availability and access to food. Food insecurity has complex interfaces with environment, climate, economy, health, gender etc. Through the study of farming systems and livelihoods in two Ethiopian food insecure areas, a suited methodology is presented how to incorporate livelihoods into vulnerability and how to match economic and social dimensions with environmental and spatial analysis. The results show natural, market and health shocks constitute a major challenge to rural economy.