Barriers to Obtaining Food Security for Families in North Central Nigeria

Abstract

This research found barriers that prevented three ethnic groups in North Central Nigeria from achieving household food security in 2011. Structured questionnaires were used to survey 340 families in the sample. The key elements affecting the region's households' ability to achieve food security were identified and separated using factor analysis. The results showed that the attainment of household food security in the research region was hampered by institutional, technical, governance, and economic limitations. The institutional variables were low market access (0.56), insufficient support services (0.48), poor nutrition education (0.48), and poor sanitation (0.44), whereas the economic factors were climate change and variability (0.57), lack of agricultural labor (0.55), and restricted access to farm land (0.57). Lack of access to clean water (0.43), inadequate and insufficient access to improved agricultural inputs (0.42), and lack of labor-saving devices (0.41) were technological factors, whereas political issues (0.51), a fast rate of population growth (0.43), and low crop yield (0.43) were governance factors. In North Central Nigeria, achieving family food security remains a pipe dream. throughout order to promote home food security, local and state governments should develop and execute both short-term and long-term programs throughout the agricultural value chain to increase food production and productivity as well as family income.