Livelihood dependence on urban agriculture in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Understanding the role that urban agriculture plays in the livelihoods of urban farmers in particular and the urban society at large helps to realize the relevance of the sector in urban poverty alleviation and to give due attention to it during urban development policy reforms. The objectives of the study were to find out the major urban agricultural production systems in Addis Ababa city, and their roles in livelihoods of urban farmer households and urban poverty alleviation, and to provide empirical evidences on socio-economic challenges related to the urban farming. Data were collected based on household survey using a structured questionnaire on 70 urban farmer households which were equivalently and randomly selected from four sub-cities in Addis Ababa. The findings revealed that cultivating vegetable crops and rearing large cattle are the most common agricultural activities by the urban crop producers and livestock owners, respectively. The former are the most dominant groups among all urban farmers in Addis Ababa. Many urban farmers (40 %) also experience mixed farming in the city. Urban farming in Addis Ababa has significant influence on the livelihoods of urban farmer households as compared to other livelihood options, where over 65 % of the households’ income is derived from farming. Besides this, it has equal importance in the livelihoods of both the poor and better-off urban farmers, and contributed to income inequality among the farmers. Vegetable production was found to narrow the income gap between the poor (lowest quintile) and the rich (top quintile) urban farmer households, where as large cattle production seems to widen the inequality. In addition, the livelihoods of poor urban farmer households are less diversified, and the strategies of the majority (80 %) are either principally crop farming or non-farm based livelihoods, where as the better-off households follow mostly combinations of farm and non-farm based livelihood strategies. Low land productivity, lack of education (especially for household heads), livestock and credit were the critical assets that distinguished the poor from better-off urban farmer households, and they seemed to limit the productivities of the poor even though the households have better adult work forces. Participations of women and uneducated people in the sector are also widely observed.