Assessment of Factors Influencing Food Consumption Diversity Among Farming Households in Izzi Lga of Ebonyi State, Nigeria
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Assessment of Factors Influencing Food Consumption Diversity Among Farming Households in Izzi Lga of Ebonyi State, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
The study’s main purpose was to investigate the important determinants influencing food consumption diversity in the farming households of Izzi L.G.A. Ebonyi. To achieve this goal, demographic and socioeconomic data were collected from 120 randomly selected farm households. The sampling units were selected using a purposive sampling method.
A survey was conducted to collect primary data from sampled farmers in the study areas by administering a structured questionnaire to farming households in order to gather qualitative and quantitative data on household demographic characteristics and related farm household issues over a specific time period.
In addition, secondary data from various sources and personal observations were collected. The acquired data were analysed using both descriptive and econometric methods.
Limiting population size, promoting and extending off-farm income-generating initiatives, enhancing livestock production and productivity, providing access to loans and agricultural inputs such as chemical fertiliser and improved crops, and ensuring market functioning were all advocated.
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
Background of Study
Enough food, both in quantity and quality, for everyone is critical for a country’s continued development. Long-term food insecurity will result in hunger and starvation, both of which can be fatal.
As a result, having adequate food is a necessary condition for good nutrition. Food insecurity, malnutrition, and hunger continue to be major issues in today’s world (Sila and Pellokila, 2007).
However, 1.4 billion poor people live on less than US$1.25 a day. One billion people live in rural areas where agriculture is their primary source of income, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia (UN, 2011; IFAD, 2011a).
Approximately 2.5 billion people worldwide rely directly on agricultural production systems, either as full- or part-time farmers or as members of farming households that support farming operations (FAO, 2008a).
Despite their importance in global and regional food production, smallholder farmers account for the vast majority of the world’s undernourished people and those living in abject poverty (UN Millennium Project 2005a; IFAD, 2011a).
Around 842 million people in the globe are still food insecure, with many more suffering from ‘hidden hunger’ caused by micronutrient or protein deficits, and approximately 205 million children are malnourished.
While food insecurity exists to varying degrees in most countries, 75% of food insecure people live in rural areas of developing countries, with two-thirds of these living in just seven countries (Bangladesh, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan) (Graham et al., 2007 pp 23; Keatinge et al., 2011; FAO 2011a; Khush et al., 2012).
Food insecurity exists in the majority of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Droughts, rising food production and import costs, declining export earnings, and rapid population increase have all reduced living standards and growth possibilities.
The impact has been far-reaching, affecting not just the earnings of agricultural farmers, who account for the vast majority of Africa’s poor, but also food and raw material supplies for industry, employment, savings, government revenue, and demand for goods and services produced outside of agriculture.
However, policy reforms and plans for resuming agricultural growth are impeded by a severe lack of country-specific knowledge. Reform initiatives all too frequently attempt to apply broad solutions to Africa’s diverse concerns.
Population expansion in all SSA nations has put a strain on agricultural land, and land holdings are insufficient to feed the entire family. As a result of population pressure, marginal land has become increasingly cultivable, potentially affecting average yield per hectare figures. The need for more land and labour is becoming urgent (Khush et al. 2012).
Despite the fact that Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest incidence of food insecurity in the world (Devruex, 2006), Nigeria is one of the world’s poorest and most food insecure countries, with 26% of the population living below the poverty line (FDRE, 2013) and more people dying from drought than from other causes, particularly during registered and documented recurrent drought epidemics.
The country has been dealing with difficult issues ranging from environmental crises to demographic and socioeconomic limits that have a negative impact on people’s production systems (World Bank, 2008).
To address the terrible food insecurity situation of small-scale rural farmers, the Nigerian government developed a long-term strategy—the agricultural development-led industrialisation strategy (ADLI)—with agriculture as the starting point and growth engine (Alemu et al., 2002).
According to the Ebonyi Agricultural Office, Ebonyi is one of the SNNP Region’s food insecure areas, both chronically and seasonally. In Ebonyi, 24 food insecure kebeles are now utilising the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP- Annex 3).
Total production has consistently been insufficient to meet the population’s food requirements. This is mostly due to rapid population increase, irregular weather patterns, unchecked environmental degradation, underdeveloped infrastructure, and recurring droughts. As a result of these factors, Woreda has long experienced a food shortfall, with widespread and worsening seasonal food insecurity.
The primary grounds for choosing Ebonyi as the study site are: (a) rural farmers in this Woreda are vulnerable to a variety of natural and man-made calamities. As a result, they are frequently vulnerable to seasonal food insecurity.
(b) Despite many food and nutrition security interventions implemented by the government and non-governmental organisations, Ebonyi is classified as a typical food insecure area.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Food scarcity has exacerbated Nigeria’s already weak economy, and it varies by region, depending on the status of natural resources and the extent to which they have been developed.
Food insecurity, both chronic and transitory, is prevalent and severe throughout the country, particularly in rural areas. The main reasons are environmental and human influences (Webb et al. 1992).
Nigeria has slightly more than eight million people that are chronically food insecure. As a result, the country requires massive and comprehensive efforts to completely eliminate chronic and temporary food poverty.
As a result, it has undertaken a variety of actions. Prior to the PSNP, Nigeria’s customary reaction to food insecurity was emergency food relief provided through an uncertain annual appeal procedure.
While this respite undoubtedly saved many lives, it did not put an end to the growing number of food insecure people (Abebaw, 2010). According to the Ebonyi Agricultural and Rural Development Office (2010), Ebonyi was one of 79 Ebonyi classified as chronically food insecure in the SNNPR.
The scheme, like others in Ebonyi, began in 2005 with 6,456 families as its target population. However, the number of beneficiary families has now climbed to 19,024 inside Meskan Wereda’s 24 kebeles.
According to Degefa (2005), not only does rainfall effect crop kind and quantity, but so does land quality. Because of a lack of rainfall and declining soil fertility, intercropping major crops with cash crops has become problematic. This, in turn, affects the household’s food security.
The main aggravating determinants of food insecurity in the study Kebeles (Beresa, Dobo Tuto, and Semen Shershera) are a lack of rain and the irregular nature of rainfall distribution, which causes substantial soil erosion during rainy season. These are the primary factors that contributed to the asset depletion of many agricultural households in the research area.
The per capita rise in production of major food products in the study area is insufficient to meet the demands of a rising population. The rate of population increase is increasing as a result of cultural practices (polygamy), household heads’ lack of information about family planning options, a scarcity of health-care practitioners, and socio-cultural influences.
Although the severity of the food scarcity fluctuated from year to year, farm households experienced seasonal food shortages practically every year. This implies the existence of structural, socioeconomic, cultural, demographic, and other factors that contribute to poverty and seasonal food insecurity in the studied area.
1.3 Research questions.
The research questions include the following:
What is the current state of food insecurity in the farming households of Izzi L.G.A.?
What are the most important factors impacting food consumption diversity among agricultural households in Izzi L.G.A.?
What is the proportionate or perceived relationship between food insecurity and its causes?
How are households coping with the risks of food shortages?
1.4 Research Objectives
The study’s overall goal is to determine the primary determinants impacting food insecurity in agricultural households in Izzi L.G.A., Nigeria.
The study’s particular aims are:
To analyse the existing state of food insecurity in the farming households of Ebonyi;
To investigate the effects of certain variables that may influence food insecurity in farming households and determine the most essential predictors.
To describe the proportionate or apparent relationship between food insecurity and its determinants;
To investigate the various coping strategies used by agricultural households in Izzi L.G.A.
1.5 Significance of the Study
Identifying and understanding the primary elements that produce and/or impact the problem, as well as its coping techniques at the family level, necessitates rigorous empirical study in areas where food scarcity is severe, and is critical for policy implications and responses.
It is critical to define and diagnose existing farming systems in order to give policy-relevant information that can be prioritised among the various options based on the relative level of influence of its drivers.
More specifically, the study’s findings assist relevant parties in developing policies and intervention mechanisms adapted to the specific needs of the studied area. Finally, the findings will contribute to future research, extension, and development initiatives.
1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study
The study focused on identifying main elements that are predicted to influence household food insecurity and copping methods for a small number of households in Ebonyi’s rural areas. The survey included 120 families from Izzi LGA.
Due to cost and time constraints, the study did not conduct a comparative investigation of the food insecurity situation between cities and Izzi. Despite the small sample size and location, the study focused on transitory food insecurity experienced by farm households of varying severity, and hence did not address the causes of chronic food insecurity.
The researcher experienced substantial problems during data collecting, including a lack of financial support and respondents’ willingness to respond appropriately to questionnaires.
Despite these limitations, the researcher did his best to collect credible information outlining the study’s objective and the benefits it brings to their well-being.
1.7 Structure of the paper
The paper is divided into six chapters. The first chapter contains the research introduction, which includes the study’s history, problem statement, research questions, research objectives of the paper, significance, term definitions, scope, and limitations. The second chapter discusses literatures reviewed from diverse sources.
The third chapter discusses the research methodology, the types of research designs employed, sample strategies, data collection methods, and data analysis.
Chapter four contains the primary research findings and comments, and Chapter five presents the paper’s summary, conclusion, and recommendations.
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