PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF FLOOD ON FOOD AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF RICE FARMERS IN YOBE STATE, NIGERIA

The study examined the perceived effect of flood on food availability and accessibility of the rice farmers in Yobe State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 425 respondents for the study. Data were collected using structure questionnaire. Descriptive statistic was employed to analyze the data. The result indicated that about13% were food secured and 41% were severely food insecured, both moderate and mildly food insecured happened to be 23% each. Moreover, findings further revealed that flood had a high effect on food availability x̄ = 3.62, while food accessibility was moderately affected x̄ = 3.07. However, the major constraints to food security were low crop yield, inadequate capital and poor post-harvest processing and storage technologies which ranked 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The study concluded that majority of rice farmers are severely food insecure, while only a small proportion are food secure and flooding significantly disrupts both food availability and food accessibility of rice farmers. It was recommended that stakeholders and cooperative societies should provide access to improved inputs, flood-resilient farming techniques, strategic food reserves, emergency response systems, strengthening nutrition-sensitive interventions, food distribution networks, and public awareness on food preservation will enhance food security in the study area.The study examined the perceived effect of flood on food availability and accessibility of the rice farmers in Yobe State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 425 respondents for the study. Data were collected using structure questionnaire. Descriptive statistic was employed to analyze the data. The result indicated that about13% were food secured and 41% were severely food insecured, both moderate and mildly food insecured happened to be 23% each. Moreover, findings further revealed that flood had a high effect on food availability x̄ = 3.62, while food accessibility was moderately affected x̄ = 3.07. However, the major constraints to food security were low crop yield, inadequate capital and poor post-harvest processing and storage technologies which ranked 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The study concluded that majority of rice farmers are severely food insecure, while only a small proportion are food secure and flooding significantly disrupts both food availability and food accessibility of rice farmers. It was recommended that stakeholders and cooperative societies should provide access to improved inputs, flood-resilient farming techniques, strategic food reserves, emergency response systems, strengthening nutrition-sensitive interventions, food distribution networks, and public awareness on food preservation will enhance food security in the study area.