DETERMINANTS OF FOOD SECURITY AMONG FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN AKURE NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The determinants of food securityamong farming households in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria is the main focus of this study.It specifically described the socioeconomiccharacteristics of the farming households, analyzed the food security situation of the respondents and estimated the determinants of food security among the households in the study area. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 109farming householdswho were selected by a three stage random sampling technique. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Food security index, FGT and Binary Logit regression model. Findings of the study showed a young vibrant farming population, relatively literate and engaged in small scale farming. The outcome of the study also indicated that majority (80percent) of the respondents were food insecure consuming less than the recommended daily calories intake of 2260kcal. Food secure households in the study area exceeded the calorie requirement by 69% while the food insecure households fell short of the recommended calorie intake by 37%.The result of the Logit regression revealed that education, household size, farm size and total household income were the statistically significant variables affecting the food security of the farming households in the study area. These coefficients have values of1.490, - 0.021, 0.264 and 0.000 respectively. It was recommended that Government should provide an integrated approach that promotes formal education among farming households to enhance their farm production activities.There is also a need to promote large scale farming in the area. It was further recommended that enlightenment programmes on nutrition and birth control measure should be directed at the farming households in the study area. This will help to check the consumption of unbalanced diets and uncontrolled child births respectively.