Abstract
Limited economic and physical capacities as well as environmental and economic shocks have constrained the ability of many Nigerian households to feed themselves adequately. This has resulted in food shortages; and they had to adopt various consumption-related strategies to mitigate the effect of the shortfalls. Using the 2010/2011 Nigeria Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture data and the reduced consumption coping strategy index (RCCSI), this paper examined the determinants of change in food (in)security of Nigerian households in the two major farming periods. Results showed that there were significant differences in the food insecurity status of households in the two periods. The likelihood of change in the food security status were determined by sex of the household head, farmland holdings, nature of livelihood, shocks associated with land loss, and climate change events. Coping strategies in the two periods were dietary change and rationing strategies. However, the frequency of use of these strategies was higher in the post-planting period and more among female-headed households. The use of high-yielding climate-resistant crops and reduction in post-harvest losses through processing and improved storage facilities were advocated. Key words: Food security, food consumption score, reduced consumption coping strategy index, post-harvest, post-planting.  
Highlights
Food security is defined as access by all people at all times to have enough food for an active, healthy life (World Bank, 1986)
Using the 2010/2011 Nigeria Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture data and the reduced consumption coping strategy index (RCCSI), this paper examined the determinants of change in foodsecurity of Nigerian households in the two major farming periods
The post-planting season refers to the period after cultivation season which is generally characterized by few food baskets in the households, low income especially for households who are not seriously involved in non-farm income generating activities, and increase in expenditures occasioned by a rise in labour demand for farm activities
Summary
Food security is defined as access by all people at all times to have enough food for an active, healthy life (World Bank, 1986). Khatri-Chetri and Maharjan (2006) maintain that a high level of exposure to risk of natural disasters and lack of ability or means to cope with them affect to a very great extent the food security status of households These are indications that both factors (risks and households’ socio-economic characteristics) are important determinants of vulnerability to food insecurity. During the post planting period, the food insecurity status of the households as measured by their consumption coping strategy index is determine by the prevailing socioeconomic characteristics of the households at that period, and the previous risk events the households experienced Over time, this status improves or deteriorates depending on the nature and level of the shocks (natural, economic, political, and social) the household is exposed to, and the responses or coping strategies (consumption, expenditure, income and migration) the household is able to adopt to ameliorate the impacts of the shocks. Where f(.) is the probability density function of the multivariate normal distribution
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