Socio-Economics Characteristics and Food Security Status of Farming Households in Kwara State, North-Central Nigeria

In recent times, the global focus has been on food security and poverty alleviation. This is in response to increasing food insecurity and poverty in the world. The incidences of food insecurity and poverty are particularly devastating in the developing countries and a lot of resources are being channelled towards programmes aimed at eradicating food insecurity and poverty by various international organizations and government of the developing nations. In terms of food insecurity, 852 million people worldwide are still chronically undernourished. In Africa, an estimated 200 million or 27.4% of the people on the continent are undernourished. This figure is expected to increase to 30% by 2010. In Nigeria, over 40% of the estimated population of 133 million people are food insecure. To achieve the Millennium Development Goals of halving the proportion of hungry people by 2015, it was projected that 22 million people must achieve food security every year. In consonance of the above, this study examined the socio-economic characteristics and determinants of the food security status of rural farming households in Kwara State of Nigeria. The study utilized a three-stage random sampling technique to obtain a sample of 94 farm households and a cross sectional data in year 2005. Descriptive analysis was carried out to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the households. Econometric tools were used to determine factors affecting the food security status of household. Using the recommended calorie required approach; the study revealed that 36% and 64% of the households were food secure and food insecure respectively. The Shortfall/Surplus index showed that the food secure households exceeded the recommended calorie intake by 42%, while the food insecure households fell short of the recommended calorie intake by 38%. A logit regression model made up of eight regressors was specified. Household income, household size, educational status of household`s head and quantity of food obtained from own production were found to determine the food security status of farming households in the study area. It is concluded that the design of food security strategies should be multi-dimensional such that would focus on and address the identified determinants in order to achieve the target set by the Millennium Development Goals.