Interaction of income and food security status among urban households in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State

Abstract

The food security status of an individual or household is related to several factors, but to income in particular. The study assessed the nature and direction of this relationship among different income classes in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State. A multistage sampling technique was used to select a total of 120 households across different income strata in the study area. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The analytical tools used include descriptive statistics, Food Insecurity Index and discriminant analysis. The results show that most of the respondents were males who had at least primary level education and were employed in non-farm activities. Food security incidence increased with increase in the number of years spent in school and was highest when household heads were within the range of 31 – 40 years and least within the greater than 60 years range. It was also revealed that maleheaded households had high food security incidence. The discriminant analysis showed that increases in total household income improved the food security status of a household. The policy implication of these results is that efforts should be made to intensify the human capital development/ entrepreneurship content of development programmes and policies in order to ensure increased income to households.

Keywords: Food Security, Nutrition, Income, Human capital, Entrepreneurship