Determinants of Food Security Status among Cocoyam Farmers in Ogun State, South Western Nigeria

Abstract

Food insecurity is endemic in Nigeria. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine factors affecting food security status among cocoyam farmers in Ogun State, Southwest Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to obtain data from 241 respondents, United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) household food security module was used to categorise the farmers into four and Ordered Logistic (OLOGIT) regression was used to investigate those factors that determine the Food Security (FS) status of the respondents. The socio-economic characteristics of the farmers revealed that there are more male (96.27%) in cocoyam production. Majority (90.04%) of them are married, with mean age 47 and farming experience 18 years, The mean household size, farm size and farm income are; 6, 0.72Ha , and ₦303,642 per year respectively while 86.31% belong to various cooperative societies. The OLOGIT regression results revealed that farmers access to credit, membership of cooperative society, education, extension contact, and non- farms income increased the farmers’ FS status, while increase family size decreased their FS status. The study concluded that 97.93% of the cocoyam farmers are food insecure. It was recommended that cocoyam farmers should belong to cooperative society for regular access to credit and other incentives, the non-literate farmers should enrol in adult education classes to enable them acquire knowledge on modern technologies, and more extension officers should be employed.