Analysis of Small Scale Farmers Households Food Security in the Mount Bamboutos Ecosystem

Abstract

The Mount Bamboutos ecosystem constitutes part of the area with the second highest level of food insecurity in Cameroon. In order to check the diminishing biodiversity, there is an urgent need to develop a 25-year plan for the management of the Mount Bamboutos ecosystem biodiversity. This study seeks to examine the food security status of smallholder farming households, factors affecting household food security and coping strategies in case of food shortages. Households were selected through a simple random process from 11 villages around Mount Bamboutos and questionnaires administered to 261 household heads. The socio economic characteristics of the households were analysed. The main sources of income for farmers in the study area were crop production and animal production. The Household Food (In) Security Access Scale (HFIAS) was used to measure household food security. Forty five percent of the sampled households were food secure. Access to irrigation facility by household was positive and highly significantly (P<0.01) influenced household food security as well as the duration of household head in the village. The main coping strategies in case of food shortages used by the farmers were; eating same food and skipping meals. As a recommendation, irrigation facilities and training opportunities should be provided to smallholder farmers in the study area to ensure better crop production for food security.