ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to assess the food insecurity status of cassava farmers in Ovia north east local government area of Edo state. A two-stage sampling procedure was used for selection of 80 farmers. The study was conducted using primary data which was collected through the administration of structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using means, percentage, frequency count, logit regression and Foster, Greer and Thorbecke index. The result showed that majority 40.0% of the Cassava farmers were within 30-39 years old, majority (61.3%) of Cassava farmers were male, majority (58.8%) of the Cassava farmers were married and had tertiary education. The mean result showed that the Cassava farmers spent ₦17,600.4 monthly on fish, spent 12,353.2346 on meat monthly and₦38,768.98125 monthly on rice consumption. The result showed that poor road network ranked 1st as a factor contributing to food security in the study area. The result showed that household size ranked 2nd, monthly income ranked 3rd, access to agricultural information 4th, farm size 5th factor contributing to food security in the study area. The results showed that majority (57.5%) of the cassava farmers are not poor while 42.5% are poor. The result showed that 37.10% of cassava farmers had Incidence (P0) index level of 0.3710, 9.12% had depth of 0.0912 and severity constituted 3.58%. The result revealed determinants of food insecurity of the cassava farmers in the study area. The result. The result showed that sex has a negative (t=-3.11) and significant relationship with food insecurity. The result indicated that there was a negative (t = -0.83) and significant relationship between education and food insecurity. The result revealed that household size has a positive (t = 0.78) and significant (p<0.01) relationship with food security. The result indicated that major occupation, access to credit, access to agricultural information and number of income streams has a positive and significant (p<0.05) relationship with food insecurity.