Studies show that many poverty and food security-related research studies in Ethiopia have overlooked urban settings. While urban poverty may be more difficult to curb than rural poverty, more attention needs to be focused on understanding urban livelihood. This study examines the livelihoods of the urban poor through the lens of a sustainable livelihood approach. Specifically, it examines the livelihood assets, vulnerability context, and various factors that mediate asset and vulnerability of the urban poor. Quantitative and qualitative research design was employed to obtain and analyze data. The study revealed that the urban poor have very limited access to livelihood assets and are vulnerable to different shocks that create a situation of livelihood insecurity. There is a gap between government policies and their implementation. For instance, NGO policies did not consider the situation and realities of urban poor. Also, capacity constraints of the local government and NGOs led to perpetual livelihood vulnerability. Findings of this study suggest the need to start an urban productive safety net program that targets urban areas to provide long-term empowerment of poor households; introduce school feeding programs; create collaboration between government sectors, NGOs, community-based and civil society associations; and revisit and improve supportive and regulatory policy frameworks for the poor to build sustainable livelihoods. This study confirms the usefulness of a sustainable livelihood framework to understand and explain various dimensions of poverty, policies, institutions, and processes, and how all these affect the livelihoods of the poor. Insights from this analysis can contribute to the improvement of policy and to reflections on the interventions needed to positively influence the livelihoods of the poor.

中文翻译：

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城市贫困家庭的生计：埃塞俄比亚城市化的可持续生计方法。阿姆哈拉民族州贡德尔市的案例

研究表明，埃塞俄比亚的许多贫困和粮食安全相关研究都忽视了城市环境。虽然城市贫困可能比农村贫困更难遏制，但需要更多地关注了解城市生计。本研究从可持续生计方法的角度审视城市贫民的生计。具体而言，它研究了生计资产、脆弱性背景以及调节城市贫民资产和脆弱性的各种因素。采用定量和定性研究设计来获取和分析数据。研究表明，城市贫民获得生计资产的机会非常有限，并且容易受到造成生计不安全状况的各种冲击。政府政策与执行之间存在差距。例如，非政府组织的政策没有考虑城市贫民的情况和现实。此外，地方政府和非政府组织的能力限制导致生计长期脆弱。这项研究的结果表明，有必要启动一项针对城市地区的城市生产安全网计划，以便为贫困家庭提供长期赋权；引入学校供餐计划；在政府部门、非政府组织、社区和民间社会协会之间建立合作；重新审视和改进支持和监管政策框架，帮助穷人建立可持续的生计。本研究证实了可持续生计框架对于理解和解释贫困、政策、制度和过程的各个方面以及所有这些如何影响穷人的生计的有用性。