Coffee production provides income that contributes to household food security in Ethiopia. The study found that a higher share of income from coffee was positively associated with improved food security indices. However, diet diversity depended more on overall household wealth than on coffee income specifically. The findings suggest coffee alone does not guarantee food security or nutrition, so production diversification and investments to boost yields and quality are needed to maximize benefits for smallholder farmers.

1. ETHIOPIAN DEVELOPMENT
RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Coffee Income, Food Security, and Diet
Diversity of Smallholder Coffee Growers in
Ethiopia
Tadesse Kuma, Mekdim Dereje, and Bart Minten
IFPRI/ESSP/EDRI
Ethiopia’s coffee value chain: Evidence towards improved investments and policies
Addis Ababa Hilton
September 15, 2015
Addis Ababa
1

2. 1. Introduction
 Despite dramatic improvements in global crop yields
over the past half-century, chronic food and nutrition
insecurity persists;
 Several agricultural policies designed to halt negative
effects F&NS:
 Promoting cash crop production identified as a strategy to
support rural households food security via generating additional
income
• Why cash crop production?
 provides high returns to productive resources
 increases the household's spending potential
 enables to invest on economic and social goods
 increases demand for hired labor; relaxes cash constraints

3. 1. Introduction
• However, debate of food versus cash crops production
for food security and poverty alleviation is vehement;
• Opinions of scholars sharply divided; research findings
are also inconclusive;
• As portfolio theory predicts, cash crop production
susceptible for risk that recommend for diversification;
• In Ethiopia, coffee sector is important. However, there
is no in-depth studies on association b/n coffee
income, food security and diet diversity;
• Aim of the study is to understand to what extent coffee
income makes a difference for food security and diet
diversity.

4. 2. Conceptual framework
• Changing perception on food and nutrition
security:
 increasing food supply (1970s); shifted to distribution
(1980s); nutrition security, diet diversity (early 1990s);
focus moved to more comprehensive measures –
“Household Livelihood Security” in 2000s;
• Food security is defined as “a situation that exists
when all people, at all times have physical, social and
economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious
food for an active and healthy life” (FAO, 2003).

5. Figure 1: Framework for analyzing association b/n cash
crop income on F&NS
F&N Security
Health Status
 Own production of
food/cash crops
 Trade, food reserve
Food Intake
Food Availability Food UtilizationFood StabilityFood Access
 Economic
access/Income
 Prices
 Physical access to mkt
• Weather
• Prices
• All other risks
 Diet Diversity
 Nutritional behavior
 Hygiene
 Health services
Socio-economic environment (i.e., population growth, resource
base, public assistance, social network)

6. 3. Data and methodology
• The survey covers 12 zones that contribute 77 percent of
all coffee production in 2012/13 were selected based on
their production data obtained from CSA;
• These 12 zones were stratified based on the coffee
variety produced in that zone;
• Woredas within each strata ranked from highest to
lowest and divided in to two (less productive and more
productive, each 50% of cultivated area);
• Kebeles and households were selected using similar
approach.

7. 4. Descriptive analysis
Sidam
a
Yirgach
efe
Jimm
a
Nekem
te
Hara
r Average
Level of Education (% of HH heads)
None 23 26 42 29 49 34
Other education 6 5 3 3 11 5
Primary education 64 56 47 56 39 52
Secondary education 6 10 7 9 2 7
Tertiary education 1 4 2 3 0 2
Land holding (in hectare)
Total land 1.7 2 2.3 1.7 1 1.8
Coffee area 0.98 1.1 1.1 0.9 0.3 0.92
% of coffee area 61% 68% 49% 50% 38% 53%
Mean distance of households from infrastructure (in minutes)
Dry season road 12 11 20 19 27 18
All season road 90 39 40 46 57 54
Asphalted road 178 121 157 295 270 204
Table 1: Household characteristics and their access to basic infrastructure

8. Table 2: %-age of HHs have access to improved facilities
Sample HHs DHS 2014
Source of drinking water (% of HHs)
o Piped 3 12.8
o Public tab 21 20.1
o Tube well 4 13.8
o Protected spring 26 9.3
o Unprotected spring 29 24.8
o Surface Water 10 13.1
Source of lightening
o Main grid electricity 16 24
Types of Household Roofing and toilet use
o Woods/thatch 30 1.5
o Corrugated Iron 68 53
o No toilet 13 33.5

9. Association between coffee income and school
enrollment
Table 3: Proportion of school aged children in school,
by coffee income quintiles
Quintile Mean Std.dev. N.obs
1 0.70 0.35 252
2 0.71 0.35 264
3 0.77 0.31 269
4 0.77 0.29 270
5 0.78 0.29 284
Total 0.75 0.32 1,339

10. Descriptive Analysis
488
757
504
377
235
231
382
196
150
343
133
344
311
490
608
339
353
588
371
314
376
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Dara
Dale
Chire
BuleHora
Chorabotor
Mettu
Gomma
Ale
Haru
LaloAsabi
Genji
Sayo
DillaZuria
Yirgachefe
AdolaRede
Qercha
Habro
Bedeno
Darolabu
Boke
Average
Sidama Jimma Nekemt Yirgachefe Harar
Yield(Kg/Ha)
Figure 2: Clean Coffee Yield (Kgs/Ha) by sample
woredas

11. Table 4: Coffee income and its use
a) Sources of income Sidam
a
Yirgach
e
Jimma Nekemte Harar Averag
e
%
share
coffee income 9432 10194 7511 4981 5355 7495 37.1%
Chat income 358 1,270 409 41 3,714 1159 5.7%
Crop income 7,401 6,768 7,604 5,714 6,331 6764 33.5%
Non-crop income 4,147 7,366 6,560 2,998 4,125 5039 24.9%
Total income 21337 25451 21366 13377 1950
5
20207
100%
Coffee in total income
(%)
42 47 31 31 27 36
Crop income share
(%)
35 27 36 43 32 34
b) Where do households spend their coffee income?
Repayment of debts 28 31 19 59 5 142 4.2%
Agricultural inputs 109 83 138 114 60 504 15.0%
Purchase food 123 182 109 41 69 524 15.6%
Education-health
expenditure
128 95 51 56 31 361 10.8%

12. 5. Coffee income and food security
• Several indicators used, including gross household
production, food balance sheets, anthropometric
measurement, per capital income and expenditure;
• We use two commonly suggested measures:
(1). index constructed using of 24-hour recall of food
consumption for individual members and index
constructed for from short-term coping mechanisms
during insufficient food availability. An ordinal value of 1
to 3;
(2). Food security index constructed using the Principal
Component Analysis (PCA);

13. 6. Coffee income and food security
Zone
Maxwell Food
Security Index PCA FS Index
Mean Mean
Sidama 48.5 0.1
Yirgachefe 48.3 0.1
Jimma 48.0 0.0
Nekemte 50.2 0.5
Harar 45.2 -0.7
Total 48.0 0.0
Table 5: Average food security index
by coffee type constructed using both
Maxwell & PCA FS index
Regression of food security
index = f(determinants)
Result
 Share of coffee in total
income positively and
significantly related to food
security;
 Household asset value and
livestock value found to
have anticipated signs;
 Wealthier households more
food secure;

14. Figure 3: Correlation b/n
share of coffee income and
food security index
Figure 4: correlation between
per capita household income
and food security index
4647484950
0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1
Proportioin of coffee income in total HH income
468
1012
logpercapitalincome
2.5 3 3.5 4
log of household food security index
6. Coffee income and food security

15. 7. Coffee income and diet diversity
 Household diet diversity measured using the protocols
recommended by Fanta (Anne & Paula, 2006);
 Respondents were asked whether any household member ate a
series of food items (12 groups) in the last 24 hours.
Table 6: Number of food groups consumed
Children Household
Zone Food Groups N of obs. Food Groups N of obs.
Sidama 4.03 185 6.19 320
Yirgachefe 3.54 191 5.38 320
Jimma 4.77 156 7.28 318
Nekemte 4.34 109 5.99 320
Harar 3.71 232 5.44 320
Total 4.01 873 6.06 1,598

16. Table 7: Proportion of the households consuming different
food groups
Food groups Sidama Yirgachefe Jimma Nekemte Harar
1. Cereals 0.75 0.57 1 1 1
2. Roots & tubers 0.76 0.66 0.55 0.41 0.21
3. Vegetable 0.83 0.73 0.74 0.76 0.67
4. Fruits 0.47 0.3 0.28 0.37 0.22
5. Meat/poultry 0.16 0.23 0.44 0.13 0.02
6. Eggs 0.08 0.08 0.25 0.17 0.07
7. Fish & sea food 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.01 0.01
8. Pulses & legumes 0.49 0.45 0.81 0.81 0.67
9. Milk & its prod 0.54 0.31 0.65 0.33 0.47
10. Oils & fats 0.81 0.72 0.92 0.92 0.78
11. Sweets 0.35 0.39 0.62 0.27 0.53
12. Spices 0.94 0.92 0.99 0.81 0.79

17. Determinants of diet diversity
Diet Diversity Index = f(PCI, wealth, share in total
income)
– Per capita income has positive and significant
association with improved household diet
diversity;
– Comparing households wealth quantiles (taking
the poorest as base) indicates that – as
households get richer, their diet diversity also
improves;
– However, share of coffee income has no positive
or negative relation with diet diversity;

18. 8. Concluding remarks
Overview findings
• Coffee production and sales source of wealth creation
and poverty reduction
• Major results:
o share of coffee income positively related to food
security;
o household asset and livestock value found to have
anticipated positive contribution;
o diet diversity associated with wealth status; share
of coffee income has no positive or negative
association with diet diversity.

19. 8. Concluding remarks
Policy implications:
 Coffee production alone provide no guarantee
of household food security and diet diversity;
 Diversification of production required
 Investments in yield-enhancing innovations,
devising and implementation of measures to
improve quality control in the supply chain,
address issues with price risk related with
coffee.