Expansion of Rice for Job Initiative Programme: Implications for Household Food Security in Lagos State Nigeria

Ambali O I,Adewuyi S A,Ibrahim S B,Babayanju S O

doi:10.13189/aeb.2015.030303

Abstract

Nigeria is listed among the 55 Low Income Food Deficit (LIFD) countries due to the high prevalence of undernourishment especially among agricultural households. Against the background that most indirect measures of food insecurity such as dietary intake, anthropometric measure, income and total expenditure fail to address the severity of food insecurity, this study applied the experienced-based method. This study assessed the potential impact of Expansion of Rice for Job Initiative Programme on household food security in Lagos State Nigeria using the USDA method and logit model. The study found relatively high incidence of food insecurity (52.5%) among the rice farm households. The logit results revealed that household food security has a 50/50 chance of improvement with additional level of education, increase in farm size and household income. Food insecurity however increases with additional family member. Inadequate rainfall, lack of technical knowledge and low extension services are the highly ranked constraints of rice production in the study area. Large family size reduces the consumption of nutritious food; low extension services reduce the adoption of new agricultural technologies and inadequate technical know-how causes inefficiency. These have effects on household income and increase the severity of food insecurity. Educating farm household head on family size control and adequate training on improved farm techniques are recommended. Household heads should be educated on the nutritional importance of food items. Irrigation facilities are important to enhance productivity. Diversification of household income will ensure regular income for the households. The impact of this empowerment initiative on household food security will be more if the rice farmers (beneficiaries) can be provided with improved production technologies and incentives.

Highlights

Food is a basic necessity of life
The finding shows that majority (75.8%) of the rice farm households are males
This implies that men dominate rice production in the study area probably because of the stressful nature of farming

Summary

Introduction

Food is a basic necessity of life. The importance of food is significant at the household level because it is a basic means of sustainability [1]. Quality intake of adequate nutrient is important for healthy and productive life. 50% of the world population depends on rice as a staple food, with 95% of the world's rice output consumed by humans, but its domestic production has never been able to meet the demand [2]. According to [3], the demand and supply gap in rice production is widening, resulting in huge import bill on rice especially in Africa. Rice is ranked first in calorie among staple food because it contains all the essential nutrients require for healthy life

Methods

Results

Conclusion