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Impact of soil and water conservation practices on household vulnerability to food insecurity in eastern Ethiopia: endogenous switching regression and propensity score matching approach

Author

Listed:
  • Million Sileshi

    (Sokoine University of Agriculture
    Haramaya University)

  • Reuben Kadigi

    (Sokoine University of Agriculture)

  • Khamaldin Mutabazi

    (Sokoine University of Agriculture)

  • Stefan Sieber

    (Humboldt-University Berlin
    Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF e.V.))

Abstract

Governmental and developmental partners invest substantial resources to reduce land and water degradation in order to upgrade agricultural productivity, thus reducing food insecurity and related vulnerability in Sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the impact of soil and water conservation on food insecurity outcomes would be a significant step toward improving environmental conditions, while ensuring sustainable and increased agricultural production. Therefore, this article analyzes the impact of adopting soil and water conservation on food insecurity and related vulnerability outcomes of farming households using a sample of 408 households selected using a multi-stage stratified sampling procedure from three districts in eastern Ethiopia. Vulnerability as expected poverty (three-step Feasible General Least Squares) is employed to analyze the vulnerability of sample households in the context of food insecurity. In addition, endogenous switching regressions with propensity score matching methods are combined to obtain consistent impact estimates. The study findings reveal that education and sex of household head, use of irrigation and fertilizer, source of information, and cultivated land are the main factors influencing the adoption of soil and water conservation practices. Moreover, the adoption of soil and water conservation not only positively impacts the per capita food consumption expenditure and net crop value, but it also significantly reduces the probability of farmers being food insecure, vulnerable to food insecurity, as well as being transient and chronically food insecure. Therefore, policymakers and development organizations should consider soil and water conservation as a main strategy to reduce land degradation and improve the livelihoods of the rural farm households.

Suggested Citation

  • Million Sileshi & Reuben Kadigi & Khamaldin Mutabazi & Stefan Sieber, 2019. "Impact of soil and water conservation practices on household vulnerability to food insecurity in eastern Ethiopia: endogenous switching regression and propensity score matching approach," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(4), pages 797-815, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:11:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s12571-019-00943-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-019-00943-w
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    2. Lili Chen & Hongsheng Chen & Chaohui Zou & Ye Liu, 2021. "The Impact of Farmland Transfer on Rural Households’ Income Structure in the Context of Household Differentiation: A Case Study of Heilongjiang Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, April.
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    4. Mousumi Das, 2021. "Vulnerability to Food Insecurity: A Decomposition Exercise for Rural India using the Expected Utility Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 167-199, July.
    5. Hailemariam Teklewold, 2021. "How effective is Ethiopia’s agricultural growth program at improving the total factor productivity of smallholder farmers?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(4), pages 895-912, August.
    6. Serge Savary, 2020. "Looking back on 2019: a selection of Food Security articles," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(1), pages 1-3, February.
    7. Abyiot Teklu & Belay Simane & Mintewab Bezabih, 2022. "Effectiveness of Climate-Smart Agriculture Innovations in Smallholder Agriculture System in Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-26, December.
    8. Andualem Begashaw & Mengistu Ketema & Abule Mehare & Mesay Yami & Shiferaw Feleke & Tahirou Abdoulaye, 2024. "Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Its Impact on Household Vulnerability to Food Insecurity: A Micro-Level Evidence from Southwest Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-16, July.
    9. Asma Souissi & Nadhem Mtimet & Chokri Thabet & Talel Stambouli & Ali Chebil, 2019. "Impact of food consumption on water footprint and food security in Tunisia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(5), pages 989-1008, October.

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