Food Security Assessment of Rural Farming Households

Kebbi is one of the States in north-western Nigeria with an alarming food insecurity and malnutrition situations, having an average stunting rate of 60.3 % among children under the age of 5. Despite several interventions by multiple stakeholders to address the worsening malnutrition situations, very little improvement seems to have been recorded as available reports have shown. The situations are more worrisome among rural populations in the State because they were said to be four times more malnourished than those in urban areas. Since household food insecurity is one of the underlying causes of malnutrition, this study examined the food security situations of rural farming households in Birnin-Kebbi, Danko-Wasagu, and Jega Local Government Areas of Kebbi State by analyzing and measuring their Food Consumption Scores (FCS) and Coping Strategies Index (CSI). The study considered the differentiated manifestation of food insecurity situations on various wealth groups in the rural communities. It was revealed that the Very Poor and Poor household categories, constituting about sixty-seven % (67%) of rural populations, are the worst hit by the manifestation of food insecurity.