This study analyzed households' food insecurity and its determinants along with the coping mechanisms opted against food insecurity and shortage in Assosa zone, western Ethiopia. The study used a primary data collected from 276 randomly selected households for 7 consecutive days from each sample using weighed records method. In addition, focus group discussions and key informants interview were also used. This study employed descriptive statistics, food insecurity index and Tobit model to analyze the data. The finding of the study revealed that, in the study area, the incidence of food insecurity was 53.62%, with the depth and severity of food insecurity being 16.84% and 7.32%, respectively. The study finding also pointed out that the mean kilocalorie intake of food insecure households was 1440.37kcal/AE/day, with the minimum and maximum being 597.65 kcal and 2048.13 kcal, respectively. Furthermore, the estimated Tobit model result revealed that age of the household head, family size and off-farm and non-farm income positively affected extent of households food insecurity; whereas access to irrigation, farm income, distance to market and access to credit negatively affected the extent of households' food insecurity. Moreover, the study also identified that reducing meal size, reducing frequency of meal served, working as a daily laborer and selling livestock's were the top four main coping mechanisms opted against food insecurity and/or shortage. Therefore, to reverse the incidence, future interventions should focus on the aforementioned factors to build the capacity of households through enhancing their access to human, financial and physical capital.

This study analyzed rural households' food security and its determinants in western Ethiopia. The study used a primary data collected from 276 randomly selected households using interview schedule. In addition, focus group discussion (FGD) and key informants interview were also used to obtain a qualitative primary data. As to the method of data analysis, the study employed descriptive statistics (such as mean, frequency, range and percentage) and binary logit model (BLM). The finding of the study revealed that, in the study area, 59.06% of the sampled households were food insecure and 40.94% of them were food secure. Besides, the study indicated that 86.87% of the households were vulnerable to different shocks, risks, and seasonality's and 41.67% of the households faced shortage of food. Moreover, the finding indicated that only 31.88% of the households were food self-sufficient from own production. Low productivity, climate related problems and inadequacy of cultivable land were identified as the top three main causes of food shortage and/or food self-insufficiency from own production. The estimated BLM pointed out that sex, age, access to irrigation, off-farm and non-farm income, input cost, access to credit and distance to market were significant in determining household's food security status. Therefore, policies and actions directed towards improving households' food security and reducing their vulnerability should focus on the aforementioned factors.

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The economic relevance of farm management practices to the production of sesame crops in Nigeria includes preventing and combatting food crises, actualization and realization of national food security as well as enhancing gross domestic product. This research seeks to examine the edaphology of some soil types in relation to the productivity of sesame crops in Nigeria. The experiment was conducted in statistical farm of Hussaini Adamu Federal Polytechnic, Kazaure, Jigawa State, Nigeria during 2019 growing season. The experimental design was Completely Randomized Design with one hundred replications. There were three types of soils investigated; Clay, Sandy, and Loamy were compared with one another. The soils were made free of any nuisance factors effects. The chlorophyll content of the plants was read using Konica Minolta chlorophyll meter SPAD-502 plus, and the data analyzed using one-way ANOVA and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The result of the analysis indicates a higher significant effect of Sandy soil (M = 11.20, SD = 2.37) on the yield of sesame crops in this region as compared to the effects of the Clay (M = 3.60, SD = 0.89), and Loamy (M = 6.86, SD = 3.39) soils. The overall ANOVA test indicates that growing environment does have effect on sesame production, F (2, 27) = 6.70, p = 0.00. However, the result indicates insignificant chlorophyll mean difference between Clay and Loamy soils. It is therefore evident from these results and the reviewed literatures that the suitable growing environment for sesame production in Nigeria is fertile Sandy soil that is deep, light textured, well-drained and that is exposed to an average temperature of 25oC to 37oC. The crop is also tolerant to draught, but not at the germination and seedling stages, water logging, and excessive rain fall while it requires 90–120 frost-free days to achieve optimal yields in cold regions. The challenges which stand in the way of increasing the productivity and quality of sesame crops need to be overcome. As with other crops, which is a major export crop in many countries, these crops should be given more research attention.

Objectives:To analyze the impact of a single and/or bundle of technologies on the productivity and welfare of farmers, and to check its heterogeneous impact on productivity and farmers' welfare. Methods: A Multinomial Endogenous Switching Regression (MESR) was employed to analyze the data collected from a total of 400 cereal crops producing farmers in the north Shewa zone of Ethiopia. Findings: The analysis showed that compared to the non-adopter farmers, a better net cereals crop income per land was obtained from the simultaneous adoption of improved seed and row planting, row planting and urea, and improved seed, and row planting and urea. For instance, compared to the counterfactual scenario of non-adopter, the mixed adoption of an improved seed variety with row planting technology increases net cereal crop income of farmers by about birr 14479.64 per cultivated land. The result also confirmed that a slight increase in welfare was recorded when cerealproducing farmers adopt improved agricultural technologies compared to a counterfactual scenario of non-adopters. The consumption expenditure per adult equivalent for raw planting technology adopters increases by Birr 567.69 compared to the counterfactual scenario of non-adopters. Novelty: The study provides empirical evidence about the possible role of using different adoption technology packages jointly on productivity and welfare. Sustainable and simultaneous adaptations of improved agricultural technologies need to be promoted for better farm productivity and welfare of households.