Determinants of Food Security Status and Coping Strategies to Food Insecurity among Rural Crop Farming Households in Ondo State, Nigeria

This study examined the food security status and coping strategies to food insecurity of rural arable crop farming households in Ondo State, Nigeria. Primary data were used and a multistage sampling procedure was used to select 150 respondents. Food Security Index (FSI), Probit regression model and Coping Strategy Use Index (CSUI) were employed to carry out the analysis. The empirical findings revealed that (54%) of rural arable crop farming households in the study area were food secure based on the recommended minimum calorie of 2260Kcal. Furthermore, the empirical analysis revealed that gender of the household head, household size, farm size and farm income of the household head had significant influence on the household food security status. The most widely employed coping strategy was withdrawal from personal savings as indicated by 14.82 percent of household and while reliance on less expensive food and purchasing food on credit were ranked second and third respectively with 13.66 and 12.85 percent by the food insecure households. In other to ensure sustainable food security among the households, the study recommended effective household size management, and enlightenment programmes on family planning in the study area. Farmers should increase their farm sizes. Farmers should use more inputs and technologies to increase output. Farmers should also be encouraged to have additional source of income towards attaining food security in the study area.