Ethiopia and Food Security: Rethinking Vulnerability, Policy, and Resilience

Despite notable strides in famine prevention, food insecurity continues to affect millions in Ethiopia—where, as recently as 2016, one in five people depended on emergency aid. Ethiopia and Food Security offers a groundbreaking, systems-level analysis of why food insecurity persists, moving beyond traditional metrics to explore household-level decision-making, policy frameworks, service systems, and overlooked drivers such as migration and debt.

Blending data with lived experience, this book challenges conventional research methods and assumptions. It reveals how standardized surveys often miss the nuanced, adaptive choices made by farmers, and how statistical averages conceal deep inequalities across regions. The participatory approach elevates farmer knowledge and local realities, calling for more responsive and equitable research and policy design.

At once analytical and practical, Ethiopia and Food Security redefines how we understand vulnerability and resilience in one of Africa’s most strategically important nations. This timely study provides bold new insights and actionable pathways for building a more secure and just food system in Ethiopia.

Introduction
1. Food Security
2. Ethiopia
3. Encountering
4. How we know: Methods, metrics and measures
5. Vulnerability
6. Policies, programs and services
7. Engaging change
8. Discussion
Bibliography

Logan Cochrane is an Associate Professor at HBKU (College of Public Policy), Assistant Professor at Carleton University (Global and International Studies) and Adjunct Professor at Hawassa University (Institute for Policy and Development Research). He has authored over 100 publications. In 2021 he co-edited the book The Transnational Land Rush in Africa and in 2019 he edited the book Ethiopia: Social and Political Issues.