Food Security Framework | Underlying Factors

• More than two-thirds of the population live in urban areas. The poor and very poor account for 10-15 percent and they are exceptionally poor by any standard, barely making 0.5$ per person per day. Their main sources of food are 100 percent through purchase. They rely on income generated from casual labor employment opportunities and petty trade. Summer months (May to August) are the most critical months in terms of food shortages, where their income is diminished due to reduction in income influenced by summer holiday makers who leave the country en masse to escape the scorching heat. A price increase for staple or other necessities ( kerosene, health and education services) or a drop in employment or salaries can seriously affect the urban vulnerable population. Consumer prices are currently outside the affordability of the poor urban vulnerable population.
• Northwest livelihood pastoralists are the most marginalized group. They are heavily dependant on livestock production and the sale of livestock and livestock byproducts. The border markets of Eldar, Manda, and Ashaeti in Ethiopia are the main sources of staple food for households in this zone. The poor households in this zone live below the minimum calorie needs in normal conditions and they experience food deficits through out the year. The population in this zone is more sensitive to any hazard related to climate, which will affect the natural resources (pasture, browse, water). They are currently facing extreme levels of food insecurity due to successive failure of the last two rainy seasons (Heys and Diraa).
• The poor households in the Southeast pastoral zone purchase 80 percent of their staple food requirements. Income generation by poorer households throughout the zone is limited by low levels of livestock ownership. In the case of the roadside sub zone, the critical factor is the number of milking camels owned. For the border sub zone, it is the number of pack animals since these are required to transport firewood and charcoal, the main income source of this group.
• The resilience capacity of Djiboutian pastoral households is undermined by the increased frequency of droughts and lack of proper mitigation and recovery programs. Livestock dependant pastoralists have been in a critical livelihood crisis for the last decade. Livestock herd sizes declined significantly, and the main underlying cause of chronic food insecurity is the inability to recover completely from shocks. Hunger safety nets need to be developed to lift up the poor pastoralists from their deepening dependence on food aid assistance.