Determinants of Households’ Food Consumption Expenditure in South-Western Ethiopia

Abstract

Most of poor communities in developing countries live disproportionately in rural areas where agriculture is the main means of livelihood. The food expenditure is generally used as a main yardstick for measuring the standard of living in developing nations. However, previous studies do not pay attention in identifying food expenditure of rural households. This study was designed to analyze food consumption expenditure of households in rural communities of South-West Ethiopia. The study employed cross sectional data collected from 182 randomly selected households. Primary data were collected from sample households through interview schedule, focus group discussions and key informant interview while secondary data were collected by reviewing different documents. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression econometric models were used for analyzing the data. The study result indicates that age of household head and market distance were negatively and significantly affected household food consumption expenditure while education level of household head, livestock holding size, nutritional training and income of households has positively affected household food consumption expenditure. Significant factors are consequences for food consumption expenditure in the study area. Therefore, policy and development interventions should give emphasis to training and awareness program to equip households with appropriate nutritional knowledge and modern technologies supporting agricultural practices to increase both production and income of rural households so as to enhance household food consumption behavior in the study area.