Food insecurity and coping strategies in South-West Nigeria

The government’s lockdown and restriction measures on the COVID-19 pandemic adversely altered livelihoods, commodity/food prices as well as food security status in Nigeria, especially for rural farming households. A multistage sampling technique was used to collect data from 480 rural farming households across three selected states of the SouthWest geopolitical zone of Nigeria. This research entailed rapid evaluation of the determining factors of rising food expenditure, implications for food security as well as households’ coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data that were analyzed using the following descriptive and inferential statistics: double-logarithmic analysis, Foster–Greer–Thorbecke (FGT) and probit regression analysis. The results showed that 60% of respondents were married, mean years spent in school was 17, mean age was 49 years, household size was 7 people and monthly income less than $200. The FGT model results for head count ratio showed that 78% of households were food insecure. The depth of food insecurity and severity before COVID-19 were 18.4% and 9.9% respectively, and 27.1% and 13.0% during the pandemic. The double-logarithmic regression revealed that household income, size, age and occupation significantly influenced the household’s food expenditure. Probit regression showed that households’ income, size, amount spent on food, and the household’s head, gender and educational level influenced its food security status. The research concluded that food security was indeed influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic among rural farming households in Nigeria. Intervention policies are needed to promote and enable sustainable livelihoods to eradicate hunger and food insecurity due to high food prices and high household sizes in relation to their low average income to enable rural farming households to economically recover and have the capacity to sustain themselves against future shocks.

Purpose. Food insecurity maps reveal the spatial variability of relevant indicators in relevant units in geographically disaggregated levels. This study is based on a systematic analysis of the least studied areas related to food insecurity in Pakistan, such as district-level Small Area Estimation (SAE) analysis of food insecurity by integrating several well-established datasets, including PSLM 2014–2015 and HIES 2015–2016. Methodology / approach. We investigate the food insecurity situation at the district level in Pakistan by applying the household level technique of SAE method. The geographically disaggregated indicators of welfare are estimated by using SAE that integrates the census and survey datasets. This study estimates incidence and density indictors at the district level of food insecurity. The accessibility aspect of food security is taking into account by calculating monthly equivalent food expenditure per adult. In addition, the food insecurity headcount ratio is calculated to identify the food insecurity incidence at district level, and density are visualized using ‘spmap’ in STATA 14. Results. The results of this study indicate that the districts with low food insecurity incidence are dense in terms of food insecure people. The second least food insecure district, according to food insecurity incidence estimates, has become the most food insecure in terms of food insecurity density. However, the most food insecure district with respect to food insecurity incidence has been identified as one of the least food insecure districts in terms of food insecure people. For instance, Washuk district in Balochistan, has been identified as the most food insecure district with almost 93 % food insecurity incidence. However, Washuk has only 0.17 million food insecure people according to food insecurity density estimates. Originality / scientific novelty. The study highlighted the importance of food insecurity density estimates in addition to the food insecurity incidence for targeted policy interventions. In this study we have integrated a large and relatively smaller data set that covers most of the districts from all provinces of Pakistan for addressing the small sample issue which have been identified in previous studies. The variables that are common to both data sets are included after a screening process that include Variance Inflation Factor for multicollinearity, forward – backward selection criterion with model adjustment criterion either adjusted R2, Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) or Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). Practical value / implications. The results of the study indicate that the policy makers should consider both the density and incidence of food insecurity for targeted policy interventions. This is because several districts with low food insecurity incidence are found to be dense with food insecure people. Moreover, the obtained results can be complemented by the results of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) which is based on relatively very small samples from few districts of three provinces. This can be useful in efficient implementation of food security policy and programs in targeted areas. Furthermore, the results highlight that the efforts reduce food insecurity should be targeted at district level in Pakistan.

This study analyzed households’ food insecurity and its determinants along with the coping mechanisms opted against food insecurity and shortage in Assosa zone, western Ethiopia. The study used a primary data collected from 276 randomly selected households for 7 consecutive days from each sample using weighed records method. In addition, focus group discussions and key informants interview were also used. This study employed descriptive statistics, food insecurity index and Tobit model to analyze the data. The finding of the study revealed that, in the study area, the incidence of food insecurity was 53.62%, with the depth and severity of food insecurity being 16.84% and 7.32%, respectively. The study finding also pointed out that the mean kilocalorie intake of food insecure households was 1440.37kcal/AE/day, with the minimum and maximum being 597.65 kcal and 2048.13 kcal, respectively. Furthermore, the estimated Tobit model result revealed that age of the household head, family size and off-farm and non-farm income positively affected extent of households food insecurity; whereas access to irrigation, farm income, distance to market and access to credit negatively affected the extent of households’ food insecurity. Moreover, the study also identified that reducing meal size, reducing frequency of meal served, working as a daily laborer and selling livestock’s were the top four main coping mechanisms opted against food insecurity and/or shortage. Therefore, to reverse the incidence, future interventions should focus on the aforementioned factors to build the capacity of households through enhancing their access to human, financial and physical capital.

The study assessed farmers’ coping strategies for household food insecurity in Ezinihitte Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo state, Nigeria. A multistage random sampling procedure was used to select 90 farm households from whom data were elicited using a semi-structured interview schedule. Data were analysed using means, frequencies, percentages, and food security index. Results showed that the farm households' incidence of food insecurity and gap were 0.5111 and 0.4769 respectively, while the severity of food insecurity was 0.2388. Reduced number of meals eaten per day (78.26%), reduced size of meals (73.91%) and less expensive food were identified by 71.74% of the food insecure as coping strategies for food insecurity by farm households. Meanwhile, 75.56% and 70.00% of the farm households reported that low income and poor access to farm inputs were problems constraining their achievement of food security. The study concluded that a higher percentage of the farm households in the study area were food insecure. It was recommended that heads of farm households be encouraged to join and participate in cooperative societies to improve their food security status and access to production resources.

ABSTRACT: Hunger continues to be on the increase and food crises remain a developmental challenge. The incidence of food insecurity in the country has heightened in recent years due to unprecedented natural hazards, economic shocks and climate change, which have eroded livelihoods and worsened the country’s performance in food security-related indices. We therefore used the panel data from Nigeria to examine the food insecurity transition among agricultural households. The data covered four rounds. The food insecurity status of agricultural households was estimated using the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke measure. We explained the interaction among the states of food security of agricultural households across different periods using the food insecurity transition matrix. The determinants of food insecurity were explored using the dynamic probit model. The model addressed unobserved heterogeneity, state dependency, and serial correlation arising from the data and model. Findings revealed that the mean food expenditure increased across the period. Similarly, mean per capita food expenditure also increased across periods except for the 2012/2013 period where it dropped slightly. We observed a rising incidence of food insecurity across the period from 44.1% in 2010/2011 to 53.4% in 2018/2019 representing a 21.1% increase in food insecurity incidence. Widening inequality exists even among the food insecure. Our findings revealed that 87.6% of households are transitorily food insecure, 5.5% are chronically food insecure and 7% are food secured. The significant factors driving food insecurity across the period were the area of land under cultivation, the fall in the price of outputs, and the increase in the price of major food items. Coping strategies employed were eating less preferred foods, restriction in diversity of foods eaten, limiting food portions, and minimizing the frequency of meal consumption. It is therefore important that the government encourage the adoption of yield-enhancing technologies to ensure household food security. Rising prices of major food items and fall in output price gives a cause for concern over the macroeconomic environment in the country, which fuels rising food prices. Policymakers should exercise caution when implementing exchange rate policies that may affect food and output prices, given the impact they have on the livelihood and household security of smallholders.

This study attempts to investigate whether there could be food insecurity incidence in an ‘’oil city’’ of Warri, Nigeria. The paper also examines the determinants of food insecurity among the households studied. The socio-economic characteristics of 260 households were collected by means of a structured questionnaire. A food insecurity index was constructed and was used to assess household food insecurity incidence. The results obtained were analysed by means of tables and percentages and found that on the average the incidence of food insecurity is high in the study area, implying that the benefits of oil and gas activities in Warri do not actually benefit all in the communities studied Also, a logit model was specified and tested to determine the factors that affect food insecurity in the study area. The results of the two approaches used in this study reveal that the age of household heads, sex of household heads, the type of occupation of household heads and dependency ratio all exacerbate food insecurity in the study area. The level of educational attainment of household heads, the nature of occupation of household heads and income of house heads tend to reduce the probability of households being food insecure. The study recommends food aid and food subsidy to the vulnerable in the area. It also recommends expanded educational facilities to enable inhabitants attain higher levels of education.

The paper examined the incidence, depth and severity of food insecurity among farming household in Sokoto, Nigeria. Data was collected with aid of questionnaire from a total of 440 farming households comprising of (220 beneficiaries and 220 non-beneficiaries of BOA) were randomly selected using four multistage sampling techniques. The data generated was analysed using FGT index. The result for the incidences of food insecurity as indicated by head count ratio shows that 39.55% and 48.18% of food insecure farming households beneficiary and nonbeneficiary respectively were not able to meet their recommended daily allowance (RDAs) which is 2,250 kcal valued at N278.40/person equivalent to 0.87 USD. The coefficient of food insecurity depth (gap) shows that 19% of beneficiary and 44% of non-beneficiary food insecure farming households are below the recommended daily calorie requirement. The severity of food insecurity shows that 3.6% of beneficiaries’ food insecure farming households are most food insecure in the study area as compared with 19% non-beneficiaries’ food insecure farming households. High incidence, depth and severity of food insecurity among non-beneficiary food insecure farming households, indicated that BOA has impacted on beneficiary farming households by increasing their food security status. Therefore, this study recommends financial policies that ensure financial support to farming households most especially non-beneficiary in the study area.

This study was designed to analyse factors determining household food security and coping strategies in Tembisa township of Ekurhuleni municipality, Gauteng Province, South Africa. The systematic random sampling technique was to collect primary data using well-structured questionnaire and oral interview. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, logistic regression model, coping strategy index and Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Results from descriptive statistics showed that male headed household were more than female headed household, and the maximum household size were nine (9), minimum were one (1). Results from HFIAS revealed that 38% of the households are food secured, while 28% being mildly food insecure, 26% being severely food insecure, and 8% were moderately food insecure. The results further revealed that household size, source of income, own house, total monthly income and age of the household head influence household food security negatively and positively. Coping strategy index results showed that �Rely on less expensive and preferred food has been used by 86% of the population, followed by reduce number of meals eaten in a day (60%). Since the source of income found influencing household food security, the study recommends the creation of employment through development programmes such as Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). The study further recommends that household should practice back yard farming.

This paper presented the food security situation among urban households in Nigeria. Primary data were used in this study and these were obtained with a structured questionnaire. The households were randomly selected from 7 locations with the number selected proportionate to the size of each location. The analytical tools used include tables, percentages and food security incidence. The food insecurity incidence for the study area is 0.49. Food insecurity incidence increases with increase in age of household heads. It is highest when household heads are within the range of 61 – 70 years at 0.58 and least within range 21 –30 years at 0.30. Food insecurity incidence is higher in femaleheaded households at 0.49 than in male-headed households at 0.38. Food insecurity incidence decreases with increase in level of education. Food insecurity incidence is relatively low for those engaged in professional occupation and highest for traders. Food insecurity incidence is highest at 0.48 and lowest at 0.33 for the traders and unemployed respectively. Food insecurity incidence increases with increase in household size. This ranges between 0.27 and 1.00 for those households made up of 1-4 and greater than 12 members respectively. There is a decline in food insecurity incidence as income increases from 0.41 for the low-income group to 0.20 for the high-income group. On the basis of dependence ratio, food insecurity incidence increases with increase in dependency ratio. This increases from 0.30 for households with no dependence to 0.50 for households with greater than 1 dependency ratio.

The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of outgrowers' programs on the food security of smallholder poultry farming households in Osun State. Using multi-stage sampling technique, a structured questionnaire was designed to collect information from beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of outgrowers' programs in the study area. Descriptive statistics, food security index, and Heckman's selection model were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that outgrowers and non-outgrowers were on the average, 49 and 45 years old, with about 12 and 8 years of experience in poultry farming, respectively. The Poultry Farmers' Association was represented by 97% of outgrowers and 47% of non-outgrowers. There were four major broiler outgrowers' programs existing in the area. The Anchor-Borrower Outgrowers' program and Osun Broiler Outgrowers' program adopted a fixed contract model, whereas, the Dayntee Farm and GS Farm outgrowers' programs employed a semi-fixed contract model. The incidence of food insecurity was 18% for outgrowers and 35% for non-outgrowers, with food insecurity depth and severity being 0.025 and 0.033 for outgrowers and 0.134 and 0.52 for non-outgrowers, respectively. The study found a significant difference in outgrowers' perceptions of food insecurity as well as their coping strategies. The major perceived indicators of food insecurity were inadequate resource endowment (MD = 0.758, p<0.01) and consumption of low-cost food (MD = 0.0658, p<0.01). Food acquisition on credit (WMS = 1.700), meals adjustment (WMS = 1.425), and cooking methods' modification (WMS = 1.875) strategies were adopted to cope with food insecurity. Participation in the outgrowers' program was influenced by membership of Poultry Farmers' Association, credit access and flock sizes and the significant predictors of food security among the poultry farming households were outgrowers' participation, household size, gender, marital status and credit access. It was therefore inferred that outgrowers were considerably more food secure than the non-outgrowers, encouraging the need to scale up the program in the poultry industry. Introduction of flexible regulations and reproductive education would make the program more rewarding to the poultry farming households.

The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of outgrowers’ programs on the food security of smallholder poultry farming households in Osun State. Using multi-stage sampling technique, a structured questionnaire was designed to collect information from beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of outgrowers’ programs in the study area. Descriptive statistics, food security index, and Heckman’s selection model were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that outgrowers and non-outgrowers were on the average, 49 and 45 years old, with about 12 and 8 years of experience in poultry farming, respectively. The Poultry Farmers’ Association was represented by 97% of outgrowers and 47% of non-outgrowers. There were four major broiler outgrowers’ programs existing in the area. The Anchor-Borrower Outgrowers’ program and Osun Broiler Outgrowers’ program adopted a fixed contract model, whereas, the Dayntee Farm and GS Farm outgrowers’ programs employed a semi-fixed contract model. The incidence of food insecurity was 18% for outgrowers and 35% for non-outgrowers, with food insecurity depth and severity being 0.025 and 0.033 for outgrowers and 0.134 and 0.52 for non-outgrowers, respectively. The study found a significant difference in outgrowers’ perceptions of food insecurity as well as their coping strategies. The major perceived indicators of food insecurity were inadequate resource endowment (MD = 0.758, p<0.01) and consumption of low-cost food (MD = 0.0658, p<0.01). Food acquisition on credit (WMS = 1.700), meals adjustment (WMS = 1.425), and cooking methods’ modification (WMS = 1.875) strategies were adopted to cope with food insecurity. Participation in the outgrowers’ program was influenced by membership of Poultry Farmers’ Association, credit access and flock sizes and the significant predictors of food security among the poultry farming households were outgrowers’ participation, household size, gender, marital status and credit access. It was therefore inferred that outgrowers were considerably more food secure than the non-outgrowers, encouraging the need to scale up the program in the poultry industry. Introduction of flexible regulations and reproductive education would make the program more rewarding to the poultry farming households.

This presentation is a component of a larger study on “Nutrition knowledge, food insecurity and coping strategies amongst students in the institution of higher learning in the Limpopo Province”. Institutions of higher learning are struggling with food insecurity, despite the fact that eating is regarded as a fundamental human right. University students lack access to reliable, sufficient, and nourishing food as a result those who are food insecure employ various coping techniques to deal with their situation. An explanatory sequential mixed-method approach was used in the study. Food insecure students were selected from the results of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale questionnaire. Fourteen purposefully selected in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with Health Care Science food-insecure students to explore their life experiences and coping strategies for food insecurity. Students described their experiences with food insecurity, how it affected them, and how they dealt with it. Six themes emerged from the interviews; coping strategies, health triangle effects, nutritional knowledge, effects of hunger on academic performance, factors contributing to lack of money to buy food, and competing expenses. Twenty-nine subthemes surfaced detailing the impact of food insecurity on the students’ lives. These findings help to clarify what it means to be food insecure in higher education and can influence how institutions of higher learning serve students’ basic needs. Most students used a variety of coping strategies such as borrowing money, sharing food, buying cheap unhealthy meals, skipping meals, eating fewer meals per day, reducing portion size, and seeking help from families and friends. This suggests the need for compassionate university management to assist with the establishment of support systems such as food banks to alleviate food insecurity among eligible students and further raise awareness of the issue on campus. Keywords: food insecurity, students, coping strategies, experiences, and interview.

Rural livelihoods have been the subject of empirical analysis in development studies because they play important roles in mitigating Food Insecurity (FI). In Nigeria, the incidence of FI is higher among the rural populace, particularly the peasant farming households, than urban households. Previous studies have linked aggregate measure of rural livelihoods to FI with little attention to contributions of specific components to FI. Hence, the influence of rural livelihoods on FI status of farming households was investigated. Primary data were collected from 400 farming households in Osun and Ekiti states of Southwestern Nigeria using semi-structured questionnaire. The result shows that age of household heads was 51.9±11.4 years, while household size was 8±2.9 persons. Households that were Core Food-insecure (CFI), Moderately Food-insecure (MFI) and Non Food-insecure (NFI) were 4.38%, 35.89% and 59.73%, respectively. The probability of being NFI was increased by age (0.0115), Being Married-BM (0.1073), Household Size-HS (0.0166), Post Primary Education-PPE (0.1090), Access to Irrigation-AI (0.1376), rain forest zone (0.1417), and Financial Asset-FA (0.1630), while extension services (-0.0040) and Access to National Grid-ANG (-0.1620) reduced it. Extension services (0.0030), farming experience-FE (0.0052), and ANG (0.1202) increased the probability of being MFI, while age (-0.0085), BM (-0.0706), PPE (-0.0809), HS (-0.0123), AI (-0.1020) and rain-forest zone (-0.1051) reduced it. Extension services (0.0011), FE (0.0018), and ANG (0.0419) increased the probability of being CFI, while age (-0.0030), BM (-0.0277), PPE (-0.0282), HS (-0.0043), AI (-0.0356), rain-forest zone (-0.0366) and FA (-0.4210) reduced it. On-farm rural livelihood relative to combined on-farm with off-farm and non-farm, reduced food insecurity among farming households in Southwestern Nigeria.

Poverty and food shortage form the basis of food insecurity in the world, and this is well pronounced in sub-Sahara Africa where most farming households live on less than US$1.25perday. A multistage random sampling procedure was used to select and interview 276 households. Data collected were analysed through the use of descriptive statistics, Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT, 1984) poverty and food insecurity indices and Multinomial logit regression model.The study revealed that most of the respondents were older and aged between 51-60 years with a mean age of 55 years. Most of the farmers were married 79.85%, the mean households size was approximately 7 members. Also, during post harvesting season, households size (1%), home food production 1% and food-away-from-home 1% were positively significant which implied that a unit increase in households size, home production and food-away-from home, the probability of households to be food insecure/non-poor, food insecure/poor respectively will increase relative to food secure/non-poor, while in postplanting season, households size 1%, income 1%, farm size 5%, infrequently non-food expenditure 1% and food-away-from-home 1% were significant, this implied that in a unit increase in households size, income, infrequent non-food expenditure and food-away-from home, the probability of households to be food insecure/non-poor, food insecure/poor respectively will increase relative to food secure/non-poor. The study concluded that male headed households with small holding farm size, spending much on food-away-from-home and too much non-food expenditure might lead to food insecurity and poverty in the study area.

Food security remains central in the United Nation Development Agenda (2030) as highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs 2). Nonetheless, there is still limited literature on food security in African countries and the drivers of urban food insecurity remain less understood, especially in Eswatini where urban food insecurity continues to rise. This study investigated the levels of food insecurity in the low income households of Msunduza in Mbabane and the coping strategies employed by Msunduza residents to deal with food shortages. The study sought to respond to the following research questions: What are the levels of food insecurity in Msunduza? What are the determinants of food insecurity in Msunduza? How do Msunduza residents cope with food insecurity challenges? To respond to the research questions, the study adopted a quantitative approach based on a case study research design. Data was collected from 91 heads of households, selected through systematic sampling procedure. The results reveal that majority of households in Msunduza are food insecure, with a larger proportion in the mildly food insecure category. Household income, household size, employment status and gender of the household head were found to be among the key determinants of food (in)security in the area. In cases of food shortages, households in the informal settlement of Msunduza employ different coping strategies which include reducing food intake (size of meals), begging, selling of household assets and skipping of meals, among others. The paper recommended that food security interventions be considered for low income urban households, more particularly, female headed households which tend to be more vulnerable to food insecurity.