Sustaining Food Security. Urban Agriculture and Survival Alternatives for Emigrants in Bishoftu City, Ethiopia

Academic Paper from the year 2019 in the subject Politics - Topic: Development Politics, Haramaya University, course: Urban Development, language: English, abstract: This paper devotes to discuss the concept of sustaining food security and urban agriculture and survival alternatives for migrants, as well as factors that help initiate the process and addresses possible reasons for the disconnect and then presents and discusses the implications for linking migration and food security. This paper therefore seeks to initiate a conversation between the separate worlds of migration and development on the one side, and food security on the other. The issue of food security is strikingly absent from current debates about the relationship between migration and development. The current international food security agenda displays a similar disregard for migration. There appears to be a massive disconnect between these two global development agendas. The reasons are hard to understand since the connections between migration and food security seem obvious. The methodology consisted of two data collection techniques: questionnaire survey and in-depth, semi-structured case-study interviews. These two data collection methods complement each other by providing generalized information through the survey and more fine-grained information through the in-depth interviews. The study used 58 representatives (sample). The results show a consistent pattern of difference between urban migrant and non-migrant households in relation to levels of food insecurity, sources of income, food procurement strategies, and participation in urban agriculture.

Megersa Tolera Abdi(1985 GC-) is a PhD fellow at Haramaya University, Department of Sociology in Peace and Development program. He born and brought up in western Oromia, Ethiopia. He has hold two Masters Degrees in Regional and Local Development Studies from Addis Ababa University where he also held his bachelor's degree in Sociology and Social Anthropology and Masters of Business Administration from Rift Valley University. He was a staff member of Arsi University, Department of Sociology and Social Work teaching different courses for the last three years, served as the Department Chairman and attended community service activities. He used to teach Community Development in Bishoftu Community Development Training College and Rift Valley University Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology before he joined Arsi University. Apart from his regular duty he has involved on extra-curricula works like developing TTLM for TVET trainees( on Community Development), Developing assessment tools for TVET trainees and offering some professional services in collaboration with Oromia Labour and Social Affairs, Bureau, Women and Children Affairs Bureau and Ethiopian Society of Sociologists, Social workers and Anthropologist. His research interest includes Local Economic Development, Sociology of Development, Peace and development studies, livelihood and sustainability, culture and peace building, women and peace building and federalism and ethnic conflicts. Megersa has been influenced by the works of Peter Eike who wrote a book entitled "the two public", Marxian and Weberian theories as well as Frank Furt school of Critical theories of which he very much admired is Antonio Gracia.