Determinants of Vulnerability to Food Insecurity: A Genderbased Analysis of Farming Households in Nigeria

Abstract

While considerable attention has been given to the study of food insecurity in developing countries, there are relatively fewer empirical studies, in the literature, on the vulnerability of rural households to future food insecurity. Yet, reducing vulnerability is a pre-requisite for achieving global and national food security targets (Lovendal and Knowles, 2005). Though vulnerability to food insecurity is a general problem among poor farming households, few studies have shown that the problem is more prevalent among female-headed households. For instance, IRIN (2006), conducted an analysis of livelihood and food security status of households and vulnerable groups in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. It was found that femaleheaded households were more vulnerable to food insecurity than male-headed households in the three countries; rural women were poorer than men and had turned to casual agricultural labour as a primary source of income. Akinsanmi and Doppler (2005), found that female-headed households in the South-eastern Nigeria were poorer and more vulnerable than their male counterpart. This was caused by unequal access to and control of productive resources. The study concluded that the standard of living of the female-headed households could be enhanced if they are given full legal rights of resources that would make them eligible for loans and make for efficient use of productive resources. Likewise, Owotoki (2005), found that in Kwara state, North-central region of Nigeria, the female-headed households were more food insecure and vulnerable than male-headed households. This paper analyses the determinants of vulnerability to food insecurity among male and female-headed households in Kwara state of north-central Nigeria. The specific objectives are (1) to describe the socio-economics characteristics of male and female-headed households, (2) to examine the coping strategies employed by households against food shortage-related shock and (3) to identify the determinants of vulnerability of households to food insecurity. Most research on food security in