Assessing the role of financial inclusion in reducing urban food insecurity in Hawassa City, Ethiopia  

Assessing the role of financial inclusion in reducing urban food insecurity in Hawassa City, 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 Assessing the role of financial inclusion in reducing urban food insecurity in Hawassa City, Ethiopia Wuddasie Dereje Bekele This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8741993/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study examined the role of financial inclusion in reducing urban food insecurity. We estimated an index of financial inclusion using different indicators to capture its multidimensionality. We also used the Food Insecurity Experience Scale to measure food insecurity level. We then applied the Principal Component Analysis to estimate the food insecurity index. Next, we applied the Multiple Regression Model to see the relationship between financial inclusion and food insecurity. Findings indicate that higher financial inclusion, which is measured through account ownership, access to financial branches, mobile banking, access to ATM, agent banking, and savings, was significantly and negatively related to food insecurity by enhancing financial stability and food access. Conversely, borrowing was associated with increased food insecurity, while insurance showed no significant effect. Key socioeconomic variables such as employment status, education level, income, and remittance receipt also contributed to reducing food insecurity, while variables such as age, marital status, and household size showed no significant effect. Notably, male-headed households were found to be more food insecure than female-headed ones, potentially due to differential access to social support systems. This study offers practical insights for policymakers to design inclusive financial systems that enhance household resilience. By demonstrating how financial inclusion reduces vulnerability, the findings support targeted interventions aligned with SDG 17, i.e., developing financial resources for the success of the SDGs. Our result underscores the need for improved financial accessibility, especially among the most vulnerable, to support both food security and sustainable urban development in Ethiopia and similar contexts. JEL: O12 Food insecurity Financial inclusion Indicators of financial inclusion Food Insecurity Experience Scale Principal component analysis Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted 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. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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-8741993","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":595114546,"identity":"852ee1ec-f8f3-4f3b-a321-90726061ad8e","order_by":0,"name":"Wuddasie Dereje Bekele","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAzklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACAyBmY+AHMRMKSNEi2QDSYkC8FiB5AMEmoP5G8sbHFRV8csbnVyd+eGDAIM8vdoCQlrRiwzNn2IzNbrzdLAF0mOHM2Qn4tZjdyDGTbGxjS9x24+wGkJYEg9uEtZj/bPzHVr95xtnNP4jVYsbY2MCWYMDfu404W+zPPCuWbDjGZjjjBu82iwQDCcJ+kWxP3vixoeaYPH//2c03f1TYyPNLE9ACBccYGCTAKiWIUg4CNQwM/AeIVj0KRsEoGAUjDAAALNRFw3Md4ZoAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Hawassa University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wuddasie","middleName":"Dereje","lastName":"Bekele","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-30 14:09:23","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8741993/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8741993/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104882303,"identity":"35f2592f-03d3-4415-ace3-53cd42efcef0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-18 09:29:16","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":688696,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscriptwithauthordetail.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8741993/v1_covered_f9034d21-d2d0-490b-911b-554393434569.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Assessing the role of financial inclusion in reducing urban food insecurity in Hawassa City, Ethiopia ","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"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":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Food insecurity, Financial inclusion, Indicators of financial inclusion, Food Insecurity Experience Scale, Principal component analysis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8741993/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8741993/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study examined the role of financial inclusion in reducing urban food insecurity. We estimated an index of financial inclusion using different indicators to capture its multidimensionality. We also used the Food Insecurity Experience Scale to measure food insecurity level. We then applied the Principal Component Analysis to estimate the food insecurity index. Next, we applied the Multiple Regression Model to see the relationship between financial inclusion and food insecurity. Findings indicate that higher financial inclusion, which is measured through account ownership, access to financial branches, mobile banking, access to ATM, agent banking, and savings, was significantly and negatively related to food insecurity by enhancing financial stability and food access. Conversely, borrowing was associated with increased food insecurity, while insurance showed no significant effect. Key socioeconomic variables such as employment status, education level, income, and remittance receipt also contributed to reducing food insecurity, while variables such as age, marital status, and household size showed no significant effect. Notably, male-headed households were found to be more food insecure than female-headed ones, potentially due to differential access to social support systems. This study offers practical insights for policymakers to design inclusive financial systems that enhance household resilience. By demonstrating how financial inclusion reduces vulnerability, the findings support targeted interventions aligned with SDG 17, i.e., developing financial resources for the success of the SDGs. Our result underscores the need for improved financial accessibility, especially among the most vulnerable, to support both food security and sustainable urban development in Ethiopia and similar contexts.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJEL: O12\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Assessing the role of financial inclusion in reducing urban food insecurity in Hawassa City, Ethiopia ","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-23 17:27:50","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8741993/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"fe287e5a-cafe-45e4-9092-5426d59bf154","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 23rd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-18T09:28:02+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-23 17:27:50","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8741993","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8741993","identity":"rs-8741993","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}