Food Security among Urban Households: Status, Determinant Factors and Coping Strategies Evidence From Chiro Town, West Harerge Zone, and Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Food Security among Urban Households: Status, Determinant Factors and Coping Strategies Evidence From Chiro Town, West Harerge Zone, and Oromia Region, Ethiopia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Food Security among Urban Households: Status, Determinant Factors and Coping Strategies Evidence From Chiro Town, West Harerge Zone, and Oromia Region, Ethiopia Tadese Yayeh Adamu, Yabsira Abebe Tsehay This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6751132/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 15 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study assessed the food security status, identified determinants, and explored coping strategies among urban households in Chiro Town, Ethiopia. Addressing a research gap focusing on small, rapidly growing urban centers, the research employed a cross-sectional design and a mixed-method approach, surveying 392 households. Food security was assessed using daily calorie intake, with 2100 kcal per adult equivalent as the threshold. Findings revealed that a considerable portion of urban households faced food insecurity, with 34.44% classified as food insecure, including marginal, moderate, and severe levels. Significant determinants of food security included educational attainment, household income, access to remittances, and homeownership (positive associations), and larger family sizes, higher dependency ratios, and female household headship (negative associations). Occupational status, particularly daily labor, was linked to vulnerability. Households adopted various coping strategies, most notably reducing meals, engaging in daily labor, and borrowing money. More severe strategies, like selling assets or withdrawing children from school, were also employed, highlighting the depth of vulnerability. These results underscore the unique challenges and the need for targeted interventions in such small urban contexts. Food Security Urban Households Determinants Coping Strategies Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary file 1 is not available with this version Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 10 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 24 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 01 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 15 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 12 Jun, 2025 Editor invited by journal 10 Jun, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 09 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 09 Jun, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6751132","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":471682650,"identity":"b7c1dfaa-3f7d-40df-8d2a-a0c30131091c","order_by":0,"name":"Tadese Yayeh Adamu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACAxiDjeEDiGQnoJ4HWQvjDBDJTIoWZh4QRUiLPfvhjQ9//LFJ7J+RfOyxza9t8nzMDIwfPubgsYUnrdiYty0tccaNtHTj3L7bhm3MDMySM7fhc1iOmTRjw+HEhhtARm7PbUagFjZmXnxa+N+Y//zx53/i/Bv536Qte27bE9YikWPGwMN2IHHDjRw2aYYftxMJa7nxrFiaty3ZeOOZZ2aSvQ23k9uYGZvx+oW9P3njxx9/7GTnHU9+JvHjz23b+e3NBz98xKMFBhwbBBIYGBjbQGzGBsLqgcCegf8AkPpDlOJRMApGwSgYYQAAl3JSC1E6UeYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Lecturer at Oda Bultum University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tadese","middleName":"Yayeh","lastName":"Adamu","suffix":""},{"id":471682651,"identity":"3789b95c-6a49-4137-844d-1df5e563844e","order_by":1,"name":"Yabsira Abebe Tsehay","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lecturer at Wolaita Sodo University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yabsira","middleName":"Abebe","lastName":"Tsehay","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-26 13:08:24","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6751132/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6751132/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":84943335,"identity":"74f539de-dca7-4e4e-b781-ec07f8eda968","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-19 05:40:38","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":715220,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"EditedTadeseandYabsirafoodsecurity2025.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6751132/v1_covered_672b1a16-2c32-481e-b4f0-b90e8e2cf42f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cp\u003eNo competing interests reported.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSupplementary file 1 is not available with this version\u003c/p\u003e","formattedTitle":"Food Security among Urban Households: Status, Determinant Factors and Coping Strategies Evidence From Chiro Town, West Harerge Zone, and Oromia Region, Ethiopia","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-nutrition","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"nutn","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Nutrition](http://bmcnutr.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/nutn/default.aspx","title":"BMC Nutrition","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Food Security, Urban Households, Determinants, Coping Strategies","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6751132/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6751132/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"This study assessed the food security status, identified determinants, and explored coping strategies among urban households in Chiro Town, Ethiopia. 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