The dynamics of multidimensional food security in rural Ethiopia

The aim of this study was to create a composite food security index that takes into account the four aspects of food security, which are availability, accessibility, usage, and stability, and to analyze how families' food security status changes over time. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) methods were used to create food security indices for each dimension of households. The results of the aggregate food security indices showed that in 2013, 2015, and 2018, 44%, 57%, and 45% of households, respectively, were food secure. Only 20% of households had consistent food security, while 67% had transitory food insecurity, meaning they had at least one instance of it during the study period. The remaining 13% of households were labeled as having chronic food insecurity because they experienced it continuously during the course of the research.