ABSTRACT
High prevalence of food insecurity experienced by many households in developing countries predisposes them to adopting coping strategies (CSs), some of which may put them at risk of malnutrition. This study assessed the household food insecurity status and Coping Strategies in Umuahia North and South Local Government Areas of Abia State. A cross-sectional study design was adopted. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 400 households from eight (8) communities in the aforementioned study location. Interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic data. Household food insecurity (HFI) status and coping strategy were assessed using Household Food Insecurity Access Scale and Coping Strategy index questionnaires. The data was analysed using Statistical Package Service Software (SPSS) version 25.0. Descriptive and Inferential Statistics were computed for the variables with significance judged at (P< 0.05). Findings of the study showed that (81.7%) of the household heads were male while (18.3%) were female. Majority (79.1%) of the respondents were married while 16.5% were widowed. About (48.5%) of the respondents finished secondary education while 15.0% and 25.1% attended tertiary education I and tertiary education II respectively. Majority (97.2%) of the respondents were Christians while 1.3% and 1.6% were Muslims and Traditionalist respectively. About (23.0%) of the respondents estimated monthly income was less than N 30,000, while (22.5%) earn about N 30,000 - N 50,000 monthly, and about (29.2%) earn N 71,000 – N 100,000. About (13.1%) of the respondents rarely worry about food while greater number (40.1%) sometimes worry about food. About (43.4%) sometimes rely on less preferred foods while (32.6%) sometimes limit portion size at meal times and (29.2%) reduced number of meals eaten in a day. Greater number (82.2%) of respondents were food insecure while 16.7% were food secure. About one-fifth (14.2%) were severely food insecure while 36.7%, and 32.3% were moderately and mildly food insecure respectively. A significant association exists between Coping Strategy categories and food insecurity status (P 0.01). However, the result indicated that household income was significantly associated with food insecurity. The result also indicated that sex of household head (AOR=2.60; CL: 1.26, 5.37) and education level of household head (AOR=0.07; CL: 0.01, 0.49) are significant predictors of food coping strategies. The prevalence of food insecurity was high and most households adopted CS that reduced both food quality and quantity and could adversely affect their nutritional status and predisposed them to multiple forms of malnutrition.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE I
CERTIFICATION II
DEDICATION III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS V
LIST OF TABLES VIII
LIST OF FIGURES IX
ABSTRACT X
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
1
1.0 Background of the study 1
1.1 Statement of problem 6
1.2 Objectives of the study 10
1.3 Significance of the study 11
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE
REVIEW 13
2.1 Overview of food insecurity/food
security
13
2.2
Determinant of
food security 15
2.2.1 Gender of
Household Head 16
2.2.2 Climate
Change 16
2.2.3 Economic
Development 17
2.2.4 Age of Household Head 18
2.2.5 Education
of Household Head 19
2.3
Pillars of food
security 19
2.4
Food security at
different levels 22
2.4.1 Food
Security at Global Level 22
2.4.2 Food Security
at Household and Individual level 23
2.5
Consequences of
food insecurity 23
2.6
Household food
insecurity access scale 25
2.7 Overview of
coping strategies 26
2.7.1 Food coping
strategy assessment scales 28
2.7.1.1 Coping
Strategy Index (CSI) 28
2.7.1.2 Uses of
the CSI 29
2.8 Nexus between food
insecurity and coping strategies 29
2.9
Empirical review of related literatures 30
CHAPTER 3
MATERIALS
AND METHODS 33
3.1
Study Design 33
3.2
Area of Study 33
3.3
Population of the Study 34
3.4
Sample and Sampling Technique 34
3.5
Preliminary activities 36
3.6
Data collection 37
3.7
Data analysis 37
3.8
Statistical analysis 38
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
AND DISCUSSION 40
4.1
Socio-economic Status of the
respondents 40
4.2
Household Food security 47
4.3
Food Coping Strategies of
household 51
4.4
The Relationship between Food Insecurity and
Food
Coping Strategy of participants
correlation. 55
4.5
Relationship between socio-economic characteristics,
Food
Insecurity and Food Coping Strategy of participants 57
CHAPTER
5
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 60
5.1
Conclusion
60
5.2
Recommendations 61
REFERENCES 63
APPENDIX 1
76
APPENDIX II
LIST
OF TABLES
Table
4.1a: Socio-demographic characteristics of
households 42
Table
4.1b: Socio-economic characteristics of
households 45
Table
4.2: Participant’s response to household food insecurity 50
and access scale question
Table
4.3:
Participant’s response to food coping strategies of households 54
Table
4.4: The Relationship between
food insecurity and 56
food coping strategy of participants using correlation.
Table
4.5: Relationship between socio-economic characteristics, 59
food insecurity and food coping strategy of participants
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 4.1: Categorized food security status of households 50
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0
BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Food
and Agricultural Organization (FAO, 2015), defined food insecurity as a
situation in which people lack nutritious food intake necessary for vitality
and supplements for full-scale starvation. Benson (2020) also defined food
insecurity as a state when one has limited food for existence and healthy
livelihood. Food insecurity can also be defined as the situation when people
lack secure access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food for growth
and development and an active and healthy life. Food insecurity has been
described as a condition in which people lack basic food intake to provide them
with the energy and nutrient for fully productive lives (Umar, 2014). It may
also result in severe social, psychological and behavioural consequences. Food
insecurity can be also be defined as a situation where people experience
limited or uncertain physical, social and economic access to safe, enough and
nutritious food to meet their dietary desires or food preferences for healthy
and active life (Keino et al., 2014).
FAO (2010) defined food insecurity as the consequences of inadequate
consumption of nutrition, considering the physiological use of food by the body
as being within the domain of nutrition and health.
Food
insecurity can be chronic or transitory, which is highly dependent on duration
of the hunger or the span. Chronic food insecurity, sometimes referred to as
perpetual hunger, resulted into starvation vulnerability (Godfray et al., 2010). Chronic hunger has a
direct relationship with the level of poverty among the society, especially
among rural communities located in developing countries of the World that were
seriously affected by conflicts and food insecurity challenges (Blattman and
Miguel, 2010). Chronic food insecurity is a long term or persistent situation
where people can no longer meet their minimum food requirement over a sustained
period of time while transitory food insecurity is commonly short term or
temporary and it relates to short periods of extreme scarcity of food
availability and access (Hart, 2009; Afolabi et al., 2018). Some identified causes of food insecurity include
unpredictable rise in global food price, shift in global food harvests to
biofuel among the major food exporting countries, persistent government neglect
of agricultural areas particularly in infrastructural facilities and lack of
investment in most of the developing countries, continuous conflict in some
part of the world and the approaching danger of climate changes and its
antagonistic impact on food production (FAO, 2012).
The
indications of food insecurity as asserted by Amaka, (2007) are reduction in
both capacity and attitude to work, poverty, and corruption, and low life
expectancy, high rate of crime, infant mortality, maternal mortality, hunger
and malnutrition. Essentially, among farming household in Nigeria, the causes
of food insecurity are low productivity in agriculture combined with
fluctuation in food supply and low income. The above scenario is exacerbating
by the failure of food production to keep pace with our rapid population growth
(Guo, 2010).
Food
security can be defined as a situation “when people, at all times, have
physical and economic access, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary
needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (Benson, 2020; FAO, 2008).
By this definition, four important components of food security exist;
availability, accessibility, affordability and utilization. Food security can
occur at the national, community and household levels phrase ‘at all times’ in
the food security definition (FAO, 2008).
A
Household is defined as an institutional unit consisting of an individual or a
group of individuals (System of National Accounts (SNA, 2008). Republic of mali
(2007) defined household as a group of people who normally live and eat their
meals together, in the household members acknowledge the authority of one
person as head of the household and that person must actually live with the
rest of the household members.
Household
food insecurity is defined as the inability to provide enough food for a
healthy and active lifestyle for all household members (Coleman et al., 2011). Food insecurity is
measured as a household concept that refers to uncertain, insufficient or
unacceptable availability, access or utilization of food. Ihaba et al., (2015) revealed several factors
that related to food insecurity in household level which includes poverty, low
income, level of education, household size, employment status, age, the type of
household head (gender) and food price. A household is said to be food insecure
when the per capital monthly food expenditure is less than 2/3 of the mean per
capital monthly food expenditure of all the households (Omonona and Agoi,
2007). According to Aguayo, (2016)
the presence of food insecurity at the household level implies a high level of
vulnerability to broad consequences, including psychosocial dysfunction among
household members, especially children, social economic predicament and poor
overall health status.
Household food security means access by all
members at all time to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security
includes a minimum of the ready availability of nutritious adequate and safe
foods in socially acceptable ways, that’s without resorting emergency food
supplies, scavenging, stealing or other coping strategies (USDA, 2008).
Coping
Strategies are activities undertaken in order to maintain food security or
combat food insecurity that has occurred at the household level. Coping
strategies are directly attributed to household activities rather than external
factors and varies among households, nations and regions. Households adopt both
ex ante and ex post coping strategies in their endeavour to be food insecure
(Ogundari and Ojo, 2006; FAO, 2009). Food insecure households often uses four groups
of coping strategies to deal with food insecurity such as rationing and managing the
shortfall strategies by
limiting
portion size of meal time; skip meal and restrict consumption of adult so small
children can eat ,purchasing less preferred food are the most common;
Decreasing number of household member (sent household members to eat
elsewhere);Dietary changes (rely on less expensive food) and increasingshort-term household
availability of food which
includes borrow food from friend or relative; purchase
food on credit, send household members to beg; gather wild food, hunt, or
harvest immature crops, consume seed stock held for next season, make
handicrafts to raise money for food, the household head migrates to work (Maxwell and Cardwell, 2008; Gupta et al., 2015;
Ngidi and Hendriks, 2014; Ehebhamen et
al., 2017; Agada and Igokwe, 2014).
In
connection to food insecurity adaptation of new techniques alteration of
regular behaviour is executed that translate to coping strategies (Fahmida et al., 2017). Food insecurity comes
with unpleasant conditions with consequences detrimental to human health,
well-being and productivity (Ifeoma and Agwu, 2014). In phase of idiosyncratic
shocks such as food price hike or natural disasters, households may employ food
or non-food based coping strategies or a combination of both to provide their
basic needs(Ruel
et al., 2010).Generally, households
employ different coping strategies in the early stages of food insecurity,
which however vary based on cultural and geographical differences (Maxwell,
2008). Household suffering from moderate and severe food insecurity is more
likely to adopt both financial and food compromising coping strategies (Fahmida
et al., 2017).
However,
the
purpose of this study is, therefore, to identify the strategies used by various
households to cope with their food insecurity and to gain insight into the
process they must go through toward making ends meet.
1.1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The state of
food insecurity in the world has been on the increase.
Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nation reported that
about 7.1 million people are now severely food insecure across four countries
including Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria (FAO, 2016). Globally, the most
vulnerable groups to food insecurity are victims of conflicts (refugees and
internally displaced people), migrant workers, marginal population (school
dropouts, unemployed people and orphans) and dependent population (elderly,
children under five years, women of reproductive age and low illiterate
household the situation has degenerated to epidemic and social vices. Nigeria
has an estimated 25.5% of its total population (170 million) classified as having
serious food insecurity (FAO, 2016; World Bank, 2015).
Global Agricultural Production has recorded
incredible increase even though a large number of people remain hungry and
malnourished (Ibok et al., 2014; Ambali et al., 2015). Around the world more than enough food is
produced to feed the global population FAO (2015) estimated that about 780
million people continue to suffer hunger, despite the fact that enough food is
produced to feed everyone; this is due to food wastage. Globally, 30% - 40% of
all food is wasted (Erdman, 2018). In less developed countries Erdman ( 2018),
reported that this wastage is due to lack of infrastructure and knowledge to
keep foods fresh, climate change affects food production and availability,
access, quality, utilization and stability of food system (Rupa, 2019; Erdman,
2018; Nam, 2016 ), lack of adequate and effective storage facilities is also
responsible for food insecurity (Wambui, 2019). In discussing the problem of
food insecurity in Nigeria, Adegbola et
al, (2011) posited that adequate food preservation and storage will promote
food security through reduction in wastage and seasonal scarcity.
With201 million population in the country,
nearly accounting for 2.35%
of West African population
(World Bank, 2019), food insecurity issues will continue to
be a predicament in the country. The fact that many households continue to
experience food insecurity is an indication that the problem is not food
shortage but rather a problem of inadequate access to food by the vulnerable
group in the country
According
to Brock (2013), over 62% of the Nigerian population was trapped in extreme
poverty and 80% were located in rural areas. Currently the level of poverty in
Nigeria has taken a different level, especially with current recession that the
country found itself. More and more households are finding it difficult to feed
their households. However, Otekunrin et
al (2019); World Poverty Clock, (2020) reported close to half (48% - 96 million) of the world population live in extreme poverty.
Unemployment
has a significant effect on food security; it is one of the factors that are
responsible for food insecurity (Nam, 2016).Inflation and high level of
unemployment is also impacting negatively on the food security status of
households (Mustapha, 2019). Despite begin an overall rich country with oil
assets, Nigeria’s economy has not created many more job opportunities and only
a few people benefit from the GDP growth (World Bank, 2019). Agriculture serves
as a main source of employment among the rural households, which is
characterized by low productivity due to traditional mode of farming and low
government interventions in the area of agriculture (Omanukwue, 2005).Similarly, about 1.2 billion people cannot
meet their most basic need for sufficient food every day especially poor people
living in rural environment in developing countries who are subsistence farmers
(IFAD, 2009).
Food insecurity at the household or individual level
increases the risk of developing various forms of malnutrition (FAO, 2017).
Malnutrition ranges from severe undernutrition to overweight and obesity. The
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 815
million people of 7.6 billion people or 10.7% were suffering from chronic
malnutrition in 2016. About 11 million people are undernourished in developing
countries (FAO, 2015). More than one-fifth (22.8%) of the population are undernourished in Sub-Saharan Africa (FAO, 2018). Moreover, more than 70% of these undernourished
people live in rural areas where agriculture is directly or indirectly reliant
upon (Bashir et al., 2012).
Consequently, Nigeria has been listed among the 55 low income food deficits
countries due to high prevalence of undernourished people living among
agricultural households (Ambali et al., 2015).
COVID-19
Pandemic as an external stressor affected income, employment and food security.
The number of people with severe food insecurity has been rising globally since
2014 and the COVID-19 pandemic reduced food security even further (FAO et al., 2020; Balana et al.,
2020). Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that effect of COVID-19 has led to
a sharp rise in unemployment rates, from 3.5% to 14.7%, the unemployment rate
stands at 11.1%. Job losses over this period have been concentrated among
people living in low income households, and resulting to drops in income have
made many individuals and families vulnerable to food insecurity (Dunn et al.,2020;
Despard
et al., 2020).
The effect of COVID-19 on food insecurity is well documented in literature
Laborde et al., (2020); FAO et al., 2020) by worsening the
availability, accessibility of safe and nutritious food. COVID-19 lockdown has
contributed to 40%-80% decline in the earning capacity of families in
developing countries (Farzana
et al., 2020; Marthiew and Celine, 2020;
Thurlow, 2020; Hossain and Imran,
2020).
In
previous studies (Ayieko and Midikile, 2010; Ahamad and Khondker, 2010; Shariff
and Khor, 2008) several coping strategies were found to be associated with
household food insecurity, food consumption at household and individual level.
Poverty measures such as income and expenditure and seasonal variation of
staple food production are also related to coping strategies. During
idiosyncratic shocks such as food price hike, poor household adopt a series of
coping strategies which can be differentiated as food or non-food based
techniques, purchasing less preferred food, reducing meal size, consuming only
rice, skipping meal an selling of assets were the frequently reported responses
at the time of food shortage(Nordet al., 2005;Fintracinc.2014; USAID, 2015; Gupta et al., 2015).Coping strategies pertaining to compromising quality
and quantity of food consumption were observed to be the first step taken in
order to mitigate the adverse effect of food shortage in household level (Helen
Keller International (HKI), 2013).
Previous
studies (Ironkwe, 2012; Anidi et al,
2017) on food insecurity in Abia State, Nigeria focused only on assessing
household food insecurity and coping strategies, without identifying the key determinants
of household food insecurity and coping strategies. In addition to the existing body of knowledge on
household food insecurity and coping strategies, particularly in Abia State,
this study will further
expose the key determinant of household food insecurity and coping strategies.
Thus, the basic problem this study seeks
to address is to identify the food insecurity and coping strategies of
households in Abia State, Nigeria.
1.2
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.2.1
General Objective of the study
The
general objective of this study is to assess the food insecurity among
household and coping strategies adopted by households in Umuahia North and
South Local Government Areas in Abia state.
1.2.2
Specific Objectives of the study
The
specific Objectives are to;
1. assess household socio-economic characteristics.
2. determine
the Household food insecurity status.
3. assess
the coping strategies adopted by the households.
4. examine
the association between food insecurity and coping strategies.
5. identify
the socio-economic determinants of household food insecurity and coping
strategies.
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This
research work will be of benefit to the entire populace by providing them with
the information on the food insecurity status and different valid copying strategies
to adopt. The knowledge of this research will facilitate efforts to influence public
policies and to improve the situation of household’s food insecurity among
urban areas in Nigeria. This study would provide findings on status of food insecurity
and coping strategies of household. Identifying and understanding factors that cause
food insecurity would afford information for policymakers, planners, governmental
and nongovernmental organizations which are working in the areas of food security
program in order to modify and re-plan food security program interventions and take
measurements on causes of food insecurity. In addition, it indicates gaps to be
filled by further studies.
This study will also be of benefits to
nutrition educators to encourage households to eat from different varieties of
foods and locally available foods in their area. It will help encourage farmers
to increase their production level. This research study will be beneficial to
Ministry of Agriculture to draw out a long-lasting food aid to tackle hunger
and to help with deeper long-term hunger alleviation and achieve food security.
This study will also help Government to develop capacity building program (empowerment
for reliance) among rural people in order to create employment opportunities
which they will earn income to improve on their food security status.
Furthermore,
this study will provide the agricultural sector with information on the level
of food insecurity thereby encouraging them to impact appropriate and improved
technology to the farmers for a rapid adoption for high yield. The study will
provide information for researchers to create opportunities for social and
technology innovation which will lead to social and economic change. The
findings will also help scientist to develop technologies within the control of
social, market, global trends to achieve food and nutrition security, to reduce
food loss and waste and recover produce that are currently wasting to make new
products. It will also help to create new knowledge to tackle challenges of
food insecurity.
Click “DOWNLOAD NOW” below to get the complete Projects
FOR QUICK HELP CHAT WITH US NOW!
+(234) 0814 780 1594
Login To Comment