Abstract
The study analyzes Food security status among rural farming households in Mubi North local Government Area of Adamawa state, Nigeria. Respondents’ socio- economic characteristics, food security status determinants of household food security and production constraints faced by respondents in achieving food security in the study area were investigated. Data were collected from one hundred and twelve (112) randomly selected rural farmers in six villages of the six (6) selected wards of Mubi North local government area using structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analysis. The result revealed that 72.32% of the respondents were male and 75% were married. Majority (72.33%) of the respondents had one form of formal education or the other and with a mean farming experience of 12 years. The respondents were mostly in their economically active age (mean age of 37 years) and cultivate an average of 2.95 hectares of farm land using personal savings. The mean per capita food expenditure per month was estimated to be N6, 205.11 and the value was used as food security index, and majority (74.10%) of the households were food secured in the study area. The result further revealed that educational level, farm size, farming experience and total monthly income of household heads were positively related to households’ food security status, while age of households’ head was inversely related to food security status. The major production constraints to achieving food security status in the study area include; poor access to credit facilities (98%), high cost of agro-chemicals (81%) inadequate and high cost of fertilizer (78%), shortage of labour (77%), poor storage facilities (62%) and inadequate extension visit (51%). The study among others recommended that rural farmers should be trained on farm management efficiency to boost production capacity and they should explore non-farm income to augment their existing income so as to increase their potentials considering that most of the farmers are youths.
Highlights
The specific objectives were to: 1) describe the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents; 2) determine the food security status among the respondents; 3) examine the determinants of household food security among rural farming household; 4) identify the production constraints faced by respondents in achieving food security in the study area
The socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents is presented in table 4.1
The mean age of the respondents is 37.63 years, an indication that the respondents are still very active to engage in agricultural production that will contribute towards household food security
Summary
According to Maharjan and Chhetri (2006), food security is widely seen as access by all people at all times to enough food for an active life, while food insecurity is the inability of a household or individuals to meet the required consumption levels in the face of fluctuating production, price and income. Shala and Stacey (2001) found that many countries experienced food insecurity with food supplies being inadequate to maintain their citizens’ per capita consumption. They found that sub-Saharan Africa was the most vulnerable region. Food and Agriculture Organization (2004) concluded that Africa has more countries with food insecurity problems than any other region
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