Abstract

The study analysed the food security coping strategies among farming households coping strategies in Yagba East Local Government of Kogi State. Two stage sampling procedures were used to select two hundred and twenty-five (225) rural farming households. A structured questionnaire with an interview schedule was used for data collection. The data were analysed using frequency counts, and percentages, food security index and logit regression model. The result revealed that 77.3% of farming households were male with a mean age of 43.8 years. The farming experience and average household size of the respondents were 12.6 years and 7 persons respectively. Over 60% of the households were food insecure with a mean per capital expenditure of N126,264.444 and a food security line of N84,176.3 per annum. The coefficient of age (-0.0818006), household size (-0.0883087), educational level (0.36731) and annual income (0.4168275) affected the householdís food security. The most common food insecurity coping strategies adopted by the respondents were reduced intake of expensive food (93.3%), using savings to buy food (92.9%) and reduction in daily food intake (89.3%). The constraints to food security were insufficient credit (=2.66), limited access to land =2.46) and poverty =2.36). The biggest constraints to householdís food security were insufficient credit, limited access to farmland and poverty. It is recommended that more farmlands be devoted to farming in order to address the problem of the food shortage. Also, household should be trained by extension specialists on how to make better opportunities from the coping strategies available. Proper methods of pest and disease control should be prioritized to reduce farm and post-harvest losses.

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