Pension beneficiaries’ household food insecurity and associated factors in Debre Markos town, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract Objectives A community based cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April, 2016 in Debre Markos town, Northwest Ethiopia to assess the level of household food insecurity and associated factors among pension beneficiaries. Results The overall prevalence of household food insecurity among pension beneficiaries’ households was 82.5%. Among food insecure households, 4.9% were labelled as mildly, 48.5% moderately and 46.6% severely food insecure. Living in rental house (P = 0.05), being younger beneficiaries (P = 0.001), low monthly household income (P = 0.001) and poor self-reported health status (P = 0.03) were found significantly associated with household food insecurity. In conclusion, food insecurity was a public health problem among pension beneficiaries in the study area. The effort of the government to increase the pension benefit and making especial subsidy on food and health costs yield a long-term solution.

Keywords

• Household food insecurity
• Pension beneficiaries
• Northwest Ethiopia