ABSTRACT
The study identified strategies for ensuring food security
in Taraba State. Specifically, the study was designed to identify the
determinants of food security; examine the production patterns of food by
farmers, identify the factors responsible for food insecurity: and determine
the strategies of ensuring food security. The study was carried out in Taraba
State of Nigeria in the year 2011. The population of the study comprises all
heads of households in Taraba State. A multi stage sampling technique was used
in the selection of respondents. Two agricultural zones were selected using a
simple random technique. These were Zing and Bali zones and they were selected
using simple random sampling techniques and the process gave rise to the
selection of four communities/cells per zone bringing the total number of
communities/cells sampled to eight (8). From each sampled cell, a list of
farmers was obtained from the farmers’ association and from the list of
farmers’ households. Fifteen (15) heads of households were sampled using simple
random selection techniques. The total number of respondents for the study
summed up to one hundred and twenty (120). A set of interview schedule and
questionnaire were used for data collection out of which 117 were found
analysable. Frequency, percentage scores, mean scores, and standard deviations
were used to analysed the data collected. Results from the study showed that
majority (79.5%) of the respondents were males. The age limit of respondents
shows that 56% were between the range of 20-29 years and the mean age was 32
years. The educational level of the respondents reveals that the farmers have
enjoyed one form of education or the other with about 53.0% having OND/NCE as
their highest educational qualification. Further results show that 65.8% of the
respondents were single while 31.6% were married. The mean household size of
farmers was 7 persons. The mean years of farming experience of the farmers was
8.4 years. The majority (59.0%) of the farmers had 1-5 years of farming
experience. Majority (62.4%) of the farmers engage in trading and their main
source of information was through extension agents with 47.9%. Majority (84.6%)
of the farmers grew maize grains and some crops like rice, yam, guinea corn,
and cassava. The monthly income of the respondents revealed that majority
(58.8%) have an estimated monthly income of below N20,000. The food security
analysis of the farmers revealed that the availability of food items for the
respondents were as follows: maize (X = 3.09) cassava flour (X = 3.09), and
rice (X = 2.90) depicting availability of the respondents to a large extent
while food items from proteins were perceived to be available to a great
extent. The means scores show that most of these food items are available
Taraba State. On the accessibility of food in Taraba State, majority (76.9%) of
the respondents accessed their food items from both farm and market while 18%
of the respondents got their food items from farms only. Most (57.3%) of the
respondents purchased their food items with money. The prices of the items were
moderate (63.2%). The access to food by the respondents as a determinant of
food security is not a problem in the entire State. The study also identified
some barriers to food access in the state. It revealed that religion (59.8%),
culture (64.1%), poor government policies (64.1%), geographical location
(60.1%), inadequate market information (61.7%), all have more than half of the
respondents agreeing to them as various barriers to their food access. In the
utilization of food, carbohydrate food items were not eaten in a higher
proportion during the last one day of the interview, while in the case of
proteins such as beans, fish, eggs, and milk, they were eaten by the
respondents on a 12 – 24 hours basis. The study also showed that the farming
pattern which is mostly being practiced among respondents is mixed farming
(93.2%) and mixed cropping (82.0%). This could be one of the reasons for high
availability of many food items across the various respondents in the state. It
is therefore recommended that subsidies should be provided on agricultural
inputs by the state government, local government, and other private
organizations. Also, opportunities should be provided for farmers to
participate in planning and decision making in agricultural programmes and
policies in the state.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
– – – – – – – i
Certification
– – – – – –
– – ii
Dedication – – – – – – – – – iii
Acknowledgment
– – – – – – –
– iv
Abstract
– – – – – – – – v
Table of Contents
– – – – – – –
vi
List of Tables –
– – – – – – – viii
List of Figures –
– – – – – – – – ix
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION – – – –
– 1
1.1 Background
of the Study – – – – – 1
Statement of
Problem –
– – – 1
1.3 Purpose of
the Study – – – – – – – 2
1.4 Significance
of the study – – –
– –
– 6
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW – – – 6
2.1 The Concept
of Food Security – – – – 7
2.2 Trends in
Food Production in Nigeria – –
– – – 9
2.3 Determinants
of Food Security – – –
– 16
2.4 Food
Security Strategies – – – – –
22
2.5 Government
programmes and policies on food security
– – 30
2.6 National
budgetary allocation to agriculture
– – – 41
2.7 Factors
Affecting Food Security – –
– – 43
2.8 Conceptual
Framework – – – – – 48
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY – – – – – 52
3.1 The Study
Area- – – – – – – – 52
3.2 Population
and sampling procedure- – – –
– 55
3.3 Instrument
for Data Collection – – –
– – – 55
3.4 Measurement
of variables – –
– – – 56
3.5 Data
Analysis – – – – – – 58
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION– –
– – 59
4.1
Socioeconomic Characteristics of Respondents – – 59
4.2 Food
Security Status in Taraba State
– – – – 65
4.3 Factors
responsible for food insecurity in Taraba State –
71
4.4 Strategies
for ensuring food security in the state
– – 73
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS 76
5.1 Summary of
Findings – – – – – – 76
5.2
Conclusion – – – – – – – 76
5.3
Recommendations – – – – – – – 78
REFERENCES
APPENDIX
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Average growth rate
11
Table 2: Federal government capital expenditure in Naira 42
Table 3: Taraba State budgetary allocation to agricultural
sector 43
Table 4: Distribution of the respondents by socio-economic
characteristics 63
Table 5: Mean and standard deviations of respondents on the
availability of food items
66
Table 6: Percentage distribution of respondents based on
food items utilized by households
70
Table 8: Mean distribution of factors responsible for food
insecurity in Taraba State
73
Table 9: Mean and standard deviation of strategies for
ensuring food security in the state
75
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Conceptual framework on Strategies for Ensuring
Food Security in Taraba State 51
Figure 2 Taraba state
administrative Map 54
Figure 3 Percentage
distribution of the respondents based on their monthly Income 64
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Nigeria has suffered from food insecurity and poverty as
indicated in a recent estimate that put the number of hungry people in Nigeria
at over 53 million, which is about 30 percent of the country’s total population
of roughly 150 million; and 52 percent live under the poverty line (Ajayeoba,
2010). These are matters of serious concern largely because Nigeria was self
sufficient in food production and was indeed a net exporter of food to other
regions of the continent in the 1950s and 1960s (Ajayeoba, 2010). He stated
that things changed dramatically for the worse following the global economic
crisis that hit developing countries beginning from the late 1970’s onward. The
discovery of crude oil and rising revenue from the country’s petroleum sector
encouraged official neglect of the agricultural sector and turned Nigeria into
a net importer of food. By 2009 for example the Federal Ministry of Agriculture
estimated that Nigeria was spending over $3billion annually on food imports.
Although agriculture contributes 42 percent of the GDP,
provides employment and a means of livelihood for more than 60 percent of the
productively engaged population, it receives less than 10 percent of the annual
budgetary allocations. Underfunding in this regard is central to the crisis of
food production, and food security in Nigeria (Ajayeoba, 2010). This explains
the persistence of poverty. According to the author, the loss of food
sovereignty and the dependence on food importation is also making the country
quite susceptible to fluctuations in global food crisis. This is why Nigeria
was also strongly affected by the global food crisis in 2007/2008 leading to
food insecurity, thus a need for food security.
Food security happens when all people at all times have
access to enough food that is affordable, safe and healthy and is culturally
acceptable, meets specific dietary needs, obtained in a dignified manner and
produced in ways that are environmentally sound and socially just. Food
security is not just a poverty issue, it is a much larger issue that involves
the whole food system and affects everyone in some way (FAO, 2001). According
to the World Bank (2007), the global food security crisis endangers the lives
of millions of people, particularly the World’s poorest who live in countries
already suffering from acute and chronic malnutrition. They further lamented
that fundamental considerations are to underscore the human dimension of the
crisis, monitor its impact on nutrition, health and poverty, plus its effect on
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including providing sound information
and analysis to target the most vulnerable groups.
A nation is food
secured when food is available and accessible in sufficient quantity and
quality for a productive livelihood for every individual. The increasing issue
of food insecurity, particularly in Africa has been greatly attributed to wars,
conflicts, natural disasters and bad governance.
Globally,
there is enough food for all, but more than 780 million people are chronically
undernourished (FAO, 2001). Millions of people in developing world simply
cannot obtain the food they need for a healthy and productive life. Much of the
scholarly debate on agricultural growth and poverty in Nigeria have followed
the general trend of regressing measures of poverty against agricultural output
per head and a time trend (World Bank, 2009). This is based on the knowledge of
agricultural production landscape in Nigeria. These resource poor farmers are
also characterized by a strong dependence on agricultural labour market, little
or no forms of savings or storage facilities and cultural practices adopted are
highly labour intensive (Okuneye, 2002).
The socio-economic
and production characteristics of the farmers, inconsistent and unfocussed
government policies, the poor infrastructural base, all interact in a synergism
to asphyxiate the sector, resulting in low production, high prices of food
items, inflation, underdevelopment and concomitant poverty. The place of
agriculture in an agrarian society cannot be overemphasized given its
importance in the life of human beings. Agriculture is expected to ensure
adequate supply of food to the people. Millions of people in developing world
simply cannot obtain the food they need for a healthy and productive life.
Similarly, agriculture is expected to produce a high level of agricultural raw
materials for the industries, save the industry and the nation from high costs
of importation, produce excess for the local demand ( for food and raw materials)
for export. Agriculture should continually generate employment for the people
as well as a high level of returns for the farmers.
The performance of agriculture in Nigeria has not been able
to match the expectation ascribed to the sector in the development process. At
independence, agriculture sustained the Nigeria economy and held the promise of
a vibrant agrarian economy (Akpan , 2009). In fact, according to Adeboye
(1991), agriculture contributed in the 1960/61, 67% of the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP). In the 1999 – 2000, agriculture contributed between 40 –42
percent to the GDP. The Civil War (1967-70) and the emergence of petroleum in
the early 1970s scuttled the production foundation of agriculture through lack
of visionary planning for sustainable development. The sector is yet to regain
its central role in the economy. Therefore, based on the voluminous human,
material and financial resources expended on agriculture in the last 40 years,
the country ought to have done much better to address the fight against the
mysteries of poverty, hunger, malnutrition and ill-health.
The Global
Hunger Index, published by the International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI) 2004, ranks developing countries according to their performance on three
indicators: proportion of undernourished as a percentage of the population,
prevalence of underweight children under five and child mortality . On a scale
of 0-100, with 0 indicating the absence of hunger in a given country, Nigeria’s
2008 ranking was in the 10-19 range, labelled “serious” The population segments
with the highest vulnerability to food insecurity include poor farming
households in the Sudan- Sahelian zone of Northern Nigeria and the humid forest
zones of Southern Nigeria, and pastoralists scattered over Northern Nigeria.
The Sudan-Sahelian zone is particularly drought-prone, the humid forest zones
are particularly flood-prone, and pastoralists commonly face fodder and water
deficits due to low rainfall situations in the North (World Food Prize, 2010).
In 2008, Nigeria introduced its National Program for Food
Security (NPFS), laying out dozens of constraints to food security in Nigeria
and adopting a “value chain approach” to address these constraints. The vision
of the NPFS is “to ensure sustainable access, availability, and affordability
of quality food to all Nigerians and to be a significant net provider of food
to the global community.” Considering Nigeria’s current position as a net
importer of food products, this vision will take time to be realized. The
short-term objectives of the NPFS are doubling the domestic production of
cassava, rice, tomato, sugar and cotton, and increasing the production of
millet, wheat and poultry by 50 percent. The medium-term objectives include
increased processing and storage capacity as well as development of the market
and physical infrastructure required to achieve food security (World Food
Prize, 2010).