Livelihood Status and Usage of Nutrition-Sensitive Advisory Services among Rural Farming Households in Kwara State, Nigeria

Good nutrition strengthens the immune system and reduces disease risks. In Nigeria, malnutrition is prevalent in rural agrarian areas. Despite deploying Nutrition-Sensitive Advisory Services, statistics show no significant improvement. The objectives of the study were to examine the livelihood status of rural farming households, assess the extent of use of Nutrition-Sensitive Advisory Services, analyze the relationship between livelihood status and use of Nutrition-Sensitive Advisory Services, and identify constraints to the use of Nutrition-Sensitive Advisory Services. Using a three-stage sampling procedure, 390 households were selected from a population of 177,260 rural farming households where Nutrition-Sensitive Advisory Services had been disseminated. Data were collected using an interview schedule and analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, standard deviation, and Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation Analysis. Findings indicated that rural farming households had a moderate livelihood status (Mean Livelihood Sustainability Index = 0.57), poor use of Nutrition-Sensitive Advisory Services (x̄ = 0.47), and a positive correlation between livelihood status and use of Nutrition-Sensitive Advisory Services (r = 0.830, p≤0.05). Major constraints to use of Nutrition-Sensitive Advisory Services were unaffordability of food varieties (x̄ = 2.55), poor availability of food varieties (x̄ = 2.23), and poor follow-up by extension workers (x̄ = 2.20). The study concluded that although livelihood status was moderate, use of Nutrition-Sensitive Advisory Services was poor and could be improved by enhancing livelihood capitals. A multi-dimensional approach to improving rural farming households' livelihood status was recommended.