A. S. Sambo1, A. Mustapha2,
K. Abdulaziz3 & M. M. Bada4
1Department of Agricultural
Extension and Management, School of Agricultural Technology,
Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, Samaru-Kataf
Campus
2Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension,
Bayero University, Kano
3Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria,
Plot 223D, Cadastral Zone B6, Mabushi-Abuja
4Bank of Agriculture, Maiduguri Main Branch,
Maiduguri
Email: ashafasambo@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
The
study analyzed food security situation among rural farming households in Kaduna
State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used for selecting samples
for the study. In the first stage, four Local Government Areas were purposively
selected based on their large concentration of farming households, from which
two rural communities were each selected. The last stage involved simple random
selection of 20% of the farming households from each rural community selected
in stage two, to give a total of 120 households as the sample size for the
study. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed
using descriptive statistics, household food security index and binary logistic
regression model. Results of socio-economic characteristics of farming
households showed that the mean age of household heads in the study area was 39
years, majority (87.5%) of the households was headed by males and 83.3% of the
households’ heads were married. Major occupations of the household heads were
farming and trading representing 40% of all the household heads and over 59% of
them had secondary school education. The results further show that average
household size in the study area was 11 persons. Also, 40% of the household
heads had farming experience of between 14 and 22 years and mean annual
households income was ₦557,783.00. Majority (55.8%) of the household
heads claimed not to have access to extension services. Results of food
security status of farming households revealed that 67% of the households were
food secure and 33% were food insecure. The Mean Per Capita Food Expenditure
(MPCFE) and food security line were ₦3,549.61 and ₦2,366.41
respectively. Results of logistic regression analysis reveal that coefficients
of farming experience and access to credit were positive on households’ food
security status and significant at 5% level of probability; while those of
household size and monthly income were also positive and significant at 1%
level of probability. The results further shows that the most common food
insecurity coping strategy used by farming households was borrowing money to
buy food items, which was used by 60% of the households and ranked 1st.The
study concluded that majority of the farming households were food secure. It
recommends that low interest credit should be made available and easily
accessible by commercial banks and other lending institutions to farmers since
most of households rely on borrowing money to purchase food items in situations
of food insecurity.
Keywords: Socio-economic, Assessment, Food Security, Farming households, Kaduna State.
