Assessment of Food Security Status among Farming Households in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Inadequate food intake has adverse effect on farm performance, productivity and economic growth and the need to combat food insecurity and enhance productivity remain important in the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. This study assessed food security status of farming households in Ogun State. Data were collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaire. Data on household food intake was collected from 180 farming households, using 24-hrs food consumption re-call with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and Logit regression were used to analyse the data. The results revealed that about 60% of the respondents were married with an average age of 43.87years. More than 90% of households consumed oil and condiments. Over 80% of households consumed cereals while Over 70% of households consumed fish and vegetables. About 49%, 54%, 64% of households consumed pulses/legumes/nuts, fruits and root/tuber respectively. Percentage of households that consumed meat and poultry; eggs, milk/dairy products and beverages/confectioneries were 36.67%, 30%, 17.78% and 12.78% respectively over the period of 24-hrs. The HDDS result showed that households had mean of 7. The HDDS category showed that 57.22% and 42.78% of households fell into adequate dietary diversity category and inadequate dietary diversity category respectively. The logit regression revealed that household size, farming experience, access to credit, number of under-five children in the household and nutrition information awareness have effect on household dietary diversity. Therefore, farmers should be sensitized on the importance of adequate dietary diversity to improve the food security status of their households.