Abstract:
Food security becomes a critical challenge for sub Saharan countries and the problem has
remained to be a big challenge in Ethiopia in the current times. A number of interventions were
provided despite the long term impact of food security persists. Different factors are accounted for this
challenge and the major factor is the preference of food security interventions for rural households
since all the interventions are not in line with the preferences of rural households. Preference for food
security interventions can be affected by demographic, institutional and socio economic contexts. The
subjective ranking of rural households’food security interventions and factors influencing their
preferences are determined using multinomial logistic regression model. The study was based on a
survey conducted in North Gondar zone.Semi-structured interviewwere conducted with 200 randomly
selected rural household heads. The study suggests that access to information, fertility decline,
shortage ofcultivable land, participation in an intervention, technical support problem, tropical
livestock unit and access to information are determinant factors for rural households to decide among
food security interventions. Rural households’ preferences for food security interventions were fall
into four major categories. The study suggests that material support, agricultural input, skill training
and financial support are highly prioritized food security interventions of rural households.
Multinomial logistic regression analysis of the factors influencing preferences revealed that rural
household’s specific demographic and socio-economic circumstances affects subjective ranking of
food security interventions. It is also shown that preferences for some interventions are complimentary
and need to be addressed simultaneously. Recognition and understanding of these factors and the
acceptability of food security interventions for micro level implementation will have significant
contribution to improve macro level policy formulation.
