DETERMINANTS OF FOOD SECURITY STATUS AMONG RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN OKUNLAND OF KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

This study assessed the factors that influenced the food security status of rural households in Okunland of Kogi State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was adopted in selecting the one hundred and fifty respondents used for the study. Data were collected through the use of a structured questionnaire and interview schedule. One hundred and fifty copies of the questionnaire were randomly administered to respondents in the study area. Both descriptive statistics and logistic regression model were used to analyze the collected data. From the study, the findings revealed that 47.33% of the respondents were married while only 8.67% were single. It was also discovered that 52% of the respondents were between 41-60 years of age, . Findings further revealed that 53.33% of the respondents were food secure, while 46.67% were food insecure. The result of the logistic regression showed that age, farm income, non-farm income, household size and farm size significantly influenced food security status of rural households in the study area. Consequent upon this, it is therefore recommended that stakeholders in rural development, especially the government, should develop and support non-farm income-generating activities of farmers, so as to help rural households diversify their income streams, thereby reducing dependency on farm income alone. In addition, government should facilitate farmers’ access to land through land reform policies or support for land acquisition, to enable farmers’ expand their production and potentially increase their income generation.