Gender and household food security in Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Food insecurity remains a thorn in the flesh of most rural communities of Nigeria. Very few government efforts have succeeded in solving the problem of food shortages in rural Nigeria. Most of the previous food insecurity studies focused on rural farming communities without regard to gender. Focus on gender differentials in the knowledge of technologies for coping with food shortages has not yet been properly addressed. The need for a continued search for sustainable strategies to solve this food insecurity situation in rural Nigeria necessitated this study. Data were collected with structured questionnaire and observation technique from 180 stratified randomly selected rural farm household heads and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that most of the rural farm households have experienced food shortages and food shortage in the state is often the result of a complex interaction of more than one cause. Seeking employment of any kind, sales of livestock, rationing of food, borrowing from friends and relations, engaging in other income generating activities, and consumption of neglected cheap indigenous food products are the coping strategies mentioned by the respondents, and there are no significant sex differentials in the use of strategies to cope with food shortage in the state, but men have more control of the use of productive resources. There is need for appropriate food production and preservation technologies, equitable resource allocation, provision of irrigation farming and cottage industries so as to adequately address the food insecurity situation in Imo State, Nigeria.

Keywords: gender, household, food security

Nigerian Journal of Technology and Education in Nigeria Vol. 9(1) 2004: 11-18