Drivers of Food Choice among Pastoral/Agro-Pastoral Community in Somali Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia

Background. Although nutritional problems are among the Ethiopian government’s priorities, the progress of nutritional indicators in the pastoral/agro-pastoral community is below the national figure. This could be because of poor food choice decisions, which remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the drivers of food choice among the pastoral/agro-pastoral community of Somali Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia. Materials and Methods. A qualitative study was conducted among 16 Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) and six Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) from May 7 to 27, 2018. Participants were selected purposefully. Native speakers of Somali language, who had previous qualitative data collection experience, collected the data. The overall collected data were cleaned, coded, sorted, categorized, and analyzed line-by-line. Content analysis was used to drive the key themes and sub-themes. Results. The study found that the commonest food item usually consumed by the community was porridge (“Shurow”), which is made from wheat or corn flour. The porridge is sometimes mixed with milk or butter. Besides, they consume boiled bean, wheat or sorghum (“Garaw”) that is mixed with oil or sugar. However, the consumption of fruits and vegetables was rare and seasonal. These all indicate that their feeding habit was monotonous with poor food choice decisions. The reported driving factors of food choice included drought, income, cost, availability and quality of foods, market access, familiarity with new foods, knowledge of nutritious foods, and health status of individuals. Conclusions. The food choice of the community was poor in the study area. Therefore, the health and agricultural sectors should work together to improve the feeding habits of this community by improving their knowledge and the availability of nutritious foods.