Assessment of Food Security Among Households in Kano State

The study assessed the food and nutritional status among households in Kano State, Nigeria, employing a multi-stage sampling technique. Ten percent of the 44 local governments in Kano were selected, resulting in the choice of five local governments for the study. Primary and secondary data were utilized, with primary data collected through structured questionnaires and secondary data obtained from various sources such as journal articles, books, the internet, unpublished theses, and periodic reports. Descriptive statistics incorporated both qualitative and quantitative approaches, revealing significant demographic characteristics of the sampled households. The mean age of household heads was 47 years, with an average of 25 years of farming experience. The mean household size was 10 persons, and the mean years of educational experience were 10 years. Notably, 97% of respondents were male household heads, while 2% were women household heads. Furthermore, the majority of respondents were married (97%), and 29% had tertiary education. The Food Security Index (FSI) exposed critical insights, indicating an incidence level (Po) of 0.48%, Food Insecurity Depth (P1) of 0.20%, and Severity Level (P2) of 0.05%. Results indicated that 51.44% of households experienced food insecurity, while 48.56% were deemed food secure. The marginal condition that majority of households find themselves indicates the stretch on their resources to feed themselves. This study recommends lying of sound macroeconomic policies that would ease high price effect, improve growth and promote general welfare of the households to prevent more households from looming into food crisis in addition to the existing one.