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Analysis of differences in rural-urban households food expenditure share in Kwara and Kogi States of Nigeria
Abstract
This study focused on analyzing the differential in households’ food expenditure between urban and rural households in North-central, Nigeria. Data used in the study were obtained through the use of a well structured
questionnaire administered to 396 household heads, randomly selected from Kogi and Kwara states based on the proportional distribution of their population. The analytical tools employed were descriptive statistics such as percentages, means and charts. The pooled results from the two states revealed that households in the rural areas spend as high as 66.04% of their expenditure on food compared to 69.37% in the urban. Also observed was that, Kwara households spend more on food (74.39% in rural and 75% in urban) than their Kogi counterpart (57.41% in rural and 60.49% in urban). The female-headed households spend more (68.17%) on food than the male headed (68.01) ones. The results also show that expenditure on food increased with number of household members but decreased with household per capita income in line with Engel law. Household expenditure on staple food items was the highest in both rural and urban areas of Kogi and Kwara, followed by meats and other animal products. The proportion was found not to have decreased even with increase in household income contrary to the Bennett’s law. The percentage per capita expenditure of other important food items like fruits and vegetables was found to be very low compared to the staples and meat group. This has serious health implications on households in the study areas for an active and healthy life. Expenditure share on fruits and vegetables should therefore be increased. There is need for household size reduction through birth control and rate of dependency by other distant relationships besides providing food subsidy by the government to households.
questionnaire administered to 396 household heads, randomly selected from Kogi and Kwara states based on the proportional distribution of their population. The analytical tools employed were descriptive statistics such as percentages, means and charts. The pooled results from the two states revealed that households in the rural areas spend as high as 66.04% of their expenditure on food compared to 69.37% in the urban. Also observed was that, Kwara households spend more on food (74.39% in rural and 75% in urban) than their Kogi counterpart (57.41% in rural and 60.49% in urban). The female-headed households spend more (68.17%) on food than the male headed (68.01) ones. The results also show that expenditure on food increased with number of household members but decreased with household per capita income in line with Engel law. Household expenditure on staple food items was the highest in both rural and urban areas of Kogi and Kwara, followed by meats and other animal products. The proportion was found not to have decreased even with increase in household income contrary to the Bennett’s law. The percentage per capita expenditure of other important food items like fruits and vegetables was found to be very low compared to the staples and meat group. This has serious health implications on households in the study areas for an active and healthy life. Expenditure share on fruits and vegetables should therefore be increased. There is need for household size reduction through birth control and rate of dependency by other distant relationships besides providing food subsidy by the government to households.
