FACTORS AFFECTINGHOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY IN A RURAL COMMUNITY IN NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIA

Abstract

Although the proportion of hungry people in the world is slowly decreasing, there are presently 852 million people worldwide who are chronically undernourished; mostly rural dwellers in the lower socio-economic strata. This study therefore examines the factors influencing household food security in a rural community in North Central Nigeria. Using Multistage sampling technique, 235 households were sampled. Interviewer administered structured questionnaires were used to gather data which were collated and analyzed using Epi Info version 3.5.3. The value P<0.05 was considered statistically significant with a confidence level of 95%.The results showed that 66.2% of studied households grew most of their consumed food on their farmlands, while 43.8% of the households spent between 25–50% of their monthly income on feeding their members. Although most of the households (72.9%) dry and bag their farm produce after harvest, 77.8% lose 0-24% of the produce to spoilage or pests yearly. In addition, poverty (47.5%) was observed to be the commonest factor limiting access to sufficient food, while poverty and poor storage were notable factors affecting household food security among rural dwellers. Therefore, governments and non-governmental organizations need to employ strategies that will ensure poverty reduction and improve food storage and processing facilities