Abstract

Food insecurity is still a major problem of concern among Nigerian households, hence the need to critically and empirically examine the associated challenges to food security in view of proffering solutions. This study identified households? food security challenges in Lagos State, Nigeria. Household heads were randomly sampled from 135 households in four LGAs in Lagos State, Nigeria. Data were garnered on food security status and challenges using a well-structured questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics such as percentages and means. Inferential statistics used were Chi-square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Most of the respondents were married (92.6%) and had tertiary education (60.7%). The mean age was 46?18 years, while average monthly income was N97,807.41?14,5017.47. Major information sources on food security were social media (x ?=1.65), television (x ?=1.62) and family members (x ?=1.48). More than half (56.3%) of the households were food secure. Prominent challenges to food security were food availability (x ?=1.65), high cost of food (x ?=1.47), health status of individuals (x ?=1.47) and food accessibility (x ?=1.39). Marital status (?2= 14.011, p<0.01), household size (r= -0.236, p<0.01) and monthly income (r= 0.235, p<0.01) significantly related with household food security status. The study recommends promotion of information on food security in social media and television. Also, home gardening should be encouraged among respondents so as to aid availability of and accessibility to food items.

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