Utilization of Improved Practices for Household Food Security and Nutrition by Rural Women in Oyo State of Nigeria

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study determined the utilization of improved practices for household food security and nutrition by rural women farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria. It specifically determined the rural women's awareness and utilization of the various recommendations for improvement, determined the attitude of the women towards the programme, and identified constraints encountered in utilizing the recommendations. The study was conducted using a multi-stage sampling technique to select 100 farmers in twelve communities drawn from two zones of the state, namely the Ogbomoso and Oyo zones. A pre-tested, structured interview schedule was used to collect information from the women. The data obtained were analysed using frequency distribution, percentages, mean and standard deviation. Correlation and regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that a majority of the women were aware of and utilized most of the recommendations. Moreover, a majority of the women had favourable attitudes towards the programme. The results of the hypotheses tested showed that education and farm size were found to be positively and significantly associated with the utilization of the recommendations at p < 0.01 and 0.05 levels, respectively. Also, there existed a positive and significant association between awareness and utilization of recommendations by rural women (r = 0.621).