Ensuring food security while also protecting biodiversity requires a governance system that can address intra- and intersectoral complexity. In this paper, we sought to explore the governance challenges surrounding food security and biodiversity conservation through an empirical study in Jimma zone, southwestern Ethiopia. We used bottom-up snowball sampling to identify stakeholders and then held semi-structured interviews with 177 stakeholders across multiple levels of governance. We also conducted 24 focus group discussions with local people. Data were transcribed and thematically analyzed for its contents. Challenges in the structure of institutions and policy incoherence were the key challenges identified for the governance of food security and biodiversity conservation. The challenges around institutional structure included incompatibilities of the nature of governing institutions with the complexity inherent within and between the two sectors examined. Incoherences in policy goals, instruments, and contradictions of policy output relative to the actual problems of food security and biodiversity further hampered effective governance of food security and biodiversity conservation. Notably, many of the challenges that influenced an individual sector also posed a challenge for the integrated governance of food security and biodiversity conservation, often in a more pronounced way. Based on our findings, we argue that governance in our case study area requires a more integrated and collaborative approach that pays attention to institutional interplay in order to ensure institutional fit and consistency across policy goals.

确保粮食安全同时保护生物多样性需要一个能够解决部门内和部门间复杂性的治理系统。在本文中，我们试图通过在埃塞俄比亚西南部吉马地区的实证研究来探索围绕粮食安全和生物多样性保护的治理挑战。我们使用自下而上的滚雪球抽样来识别利益相关者，然后对 177 位跨多个治理层次的利益相关者进行半结构化访谈。我们还与当地人进行了 24 次焦点小组讨论。数据被转录并对其内容进行了专题分析。机构结构和政策不一致方面的挑战是确定的粮食安全治理和生物多样性保护的主要挑战。体制结构方面的挑战包括治理机构的性质与所审查的两个部门内部和之间固有的复杂性不相容。政策目标、工具的不一致以及政策输出与粮食安全和生物多样性实际问题的矛盾进一步阻碍了粮食安全和生物多样性保护的有效治理。值得注意的是，许多影响单个部门的挑战也对粮食安全和生物多样性保护的综合治理提出了挑战，而且通常以更明显的方式。根据我们的发现，