Category Archives: International Journal of Social Sciences and Conflict Management

TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY IN NIGERIA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Ejeh, Adoyi Williams¹&Orokpo, Ogbole Francis. E,²

¹Department of Public Administration, Federal Polytechnic Kaura-Namoda, Zamfara State

²Department of Public Administration, Federal Polytechnic Idah, Kogi State

Email:willieejeh@yahoo.co.uk&orokpogbole@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

With over 200 million people in Nigeria, feeding and meeting their nutritional needs is not only challenging for the nation but crucial and critical for the quality and quantity of human resource available for sustainable food security.  If Nigeria is to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 2 of Zero Hunger and Goal 3 of Good Health and well Being; the issue of food security thus becomes inevitable because food crisis (food insecurity) has become a persistently volatile problem in the country recently with Nigeria skyrocketing food importation. Like many other developing countries, Nigeria has experienced a shortage of food supplies due to economic instability, severe drought, flood and persistent conflicts etc. To feed the future population of Nigeria which the United Nations has projected to reach 398 million in 2050, there is a need to examine the food security apparatus of the nation which will no doubt impact on the nation’s sustainable development. Thus, this paper x-rays the place of food security: Issues and challenges. The paper recommends among others the need for improvement in technology, ensured security of lives and property of farmers and appropriate policy and political will by the government so as to enhance increased domestic production and reduced importation of food.

Keywords: Food, Food Security, Sustainable Development

ADOPTION AND UTILIZATION OF NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGY FOR RURAL OCCUPATION: A STUDY OF FARMERS IN GIDAN-KWANO COMMUNITY OF MINNA, NIGER STATE

¹Omale Gloria Eneh; ²Muhammed Dagaci, Safiya Kaka; ³Bolajoko KabirAyodeji; ⁴Madza, James &^S5tephen, Jato

¹Department of Information and Media Technology, Federal University of Technology, Minna.

²Department of Mass Communication; Ibrahim BadamasiBabangida University Lapai

³Department of Information and Media Technology; Federal University of Technology, Minna.

⁴Department of Mass Communication; University of Mkar, Mkar.Gboko Benue State

⁵Department of Mass Communication; University of Mkar, Mkar.Gboko Benue State

Email:e.gloria@futminna.edu.ng; safidaci@gmail.com; @futminna.edu.ng; James.madza@gmail.com& Steve.jato@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The research was a study on adoption and utilization of new media technology among rural farmers in Gidan-Kwano community of Minna, Niger State. The objective was to find out the level of exposure to digital media use in their occupation, their awareness about the importance of the technology, their readiness to adopt the technology amongst others. Survey was adopted while questionnaire and semi-structured interview were the research instruments used. The population of the study was 4000 farmers. Krejcie and Morgan table for sample size determination was used to derive a sample size of 351. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Yin’s thematic explanation model. Findings revealed that the major hindrance to the adoption and utilization of new media by top farmers in the study area is that of illiteracy and poverty. This aligned with the reason behind their ignorance of the importance of the technology hence couldn’t apply it. Furthermore, some farmers who adopted the use were not comfortable with it due technical challenges in operating the device and other challenges encountered. The study further confirm that findings conducted by several scholars in this area which is illiteracy, poverty, poor power supply, poor network by service providers amongst others is true and therefore, opined that until the findings and recommendations made by scholars are taken seriously by government and relevant institutions, organizations and agencies, researches will continue to move in circles without any significant advancement.

Keywords: New media, Digital device, Mobile technology, rural occupation, Farming.