The Impact of Livelihood Diversification As a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy on the Food Security Status of Pastoral Households in Southeastern and Southern Ethiopia

The objective of this study was to investigate the determinants of food security and quantify the impact of livelihood diversification as an adaptation strategy on the level of food security of pastoral households in Arero district in Borena zone and Rayitu district in Bale zone in Ethiopia. A multistage sampling technique was used, selecting 396 households from Arero and Rayitu districts. The study used a multidimensional food security index to measure the food security status of pastoralist households. The descriptive result showed that 60.6 percent, 20.2 percent, and 19.2 percent of the pastoralist households had medium, high and low food security, respectively. The result of ordered logistic regression showed that the age of household head, herd size (TLU) and frequency of extension contacts significantly increased the food security status of pastoralist households. However, male household head, age of household head, household size (adult equivalent) and distance to market significantly decrease the food security status of pastoral households in Arero district. On the other hand, the result of the multinomial endogenous switching regression model showed that the uptake of non-farm activities as well as crop production and non-farm activities together have a positive and significant impact on the level of food security of the pastoralist households. Therefore, the results of the study suggest that working on participatory strategies to promote livelihood diversification among pastoralist communities is very important to improve the food security of pastoralist households.