Building sustainable resilience for food security and livelihood dynamics: the case of rural farming households in Ethiopia

This paper explores the building of sustainable resilience for food security and livelihood dynamics using the Ethiopia Rural Household Survey panel data. Household resilience scores are derived from measures taken to protect against shocks. The impact of several demographic and socio-economic factors on resilience dynamics is then tested. This paper shows that the experience of resilience in the past leads to a subsequent higher chance of continuing to be resilient (‘true state-dependence’). It also demonstrates that measures that promote asset creation, diversified enterprises and access to improved technologies are positively and significantly correlated with dynamics of building resilience for food security.