scholarly journals Agricultural production, food and nutrition security in rural Benin, Nigeria

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (60) ◽  
pp. 8388-8400
Author(s):  
OO Ikelegbe ◽  
◽  
DA Edokpa

Although agriculture is t he major economic activity in Nigerian rural areas , its inhabitants are among the most vulnerable to food and nutrition insecurity. Therefore, any effort aimed at minimizing food and nutrition insecurity must start from rural areas. This study examines agricultural production, food and nutrition security in rural areas of the Benin region in Nigeria , highlighting the major constraints . A measure of household food and nutrition security used in this study is based on dietary intake, real wage rates, employment , and incidence of illness and adequacy norms. This study is based on a food frequency questionnaire survey administered using systematic random sampling technique , participatory assessment technique, interviews with stakeholders and published materials . So me indices employed in measuring food and nutrition security i n this paper are physical access , which is measured in relation to availability of agricultural infrastructure such as roads , while economic access is measured in terms of income, expenditure and estimated profit margins. Two pre - tested questionnaires were administered in 20 rural communities in the Benin region to elicit information from respondents were analysed using simple descriptive techniques like charts, tables and percentages. Subsistence agriculture is the main stay of the studied rural economies and is dependent mainly on rain - fed, low - technology - driven cultivation with no access to modern farm inputs. Farming alone is the main source of income for 57% of the respondents , while fishing and trading account for the other 43%. T he study reveal s that although 60% of respondents are engaged in agriculture, their access to food and nutrition is in secure due in part to unstable incomes , seasonality of harvest and inadequate health and sanitary conditions . Also, lack of storage facilities in these rural communities has increased post - harvest losses and has reduced farmers ’ /household incomes , thereby worsening their food insecurity situation . The study also found that rural - urban migration result s in shortage of manpower for agricultural activities . L ack of access to fertilizer and poor infrastructure are major factors for the decline in agricultural production in the last five years in the sampled communities. The study recommends t he need for a considerable and sustained government investment in agriculture and the provision of basic facilities to support education, health care, sanitation and safe drinking water supply . This will help to ensure food and nutrition security and help to curtail rural – urban migration .

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-77
Author(s):  
A. O. OKETAYO ◽  
Y. L. OLALEYE

The study examined the effect of rural-urban migration of youth on rural development in Ogbomoso South Local Government Area of Oyo State. Rural-urban migration is a phenomenon that most developing nations of the world are experiencing due to the gross neglect of the rural areas. In Nigeria, the issue of rural-urban migration is quite alarming owing to the discriminatory centralization of facilities in the urban areas as well as widening income gap between the urban and rural areas. This study adopted a descriptive survey research design while purposive sampling technique was used in selecting 300 from Ogbomoso south LGAs.  The data collected was tested by using Pearson product moment correlation and ANOVA. The study established that self-help project had significant relationship with youth out-migration (r = .351*, N= 300, P < .05), community economy  also had significant relationship with out-migration (r = .277*, N= 300, P < .05), care for elderly had negative significant relationship with out-migration(r = -.182*, N= 300, P < .05) and cultural practices also had significant relationship with out-migration (r = .198*, N= 300, P < .05). The study recommended  that; government should decentralize its developmental projects and programmes in order to accommodate the rural areas. Government should make agriculture attractive for rural dwellers so that they could see it as a profitable occupation and there should be economic incentives to promote adaptation of indigenous skills and technologies in the rural areas. 


2005 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-323
Author(s):  
Ayaz Ahmed

The research of the past 30 years at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is highlighted in this volume. The topic is food and nutrition security. Of related concern are the development strategies that impact on technologies for agricultural production, resource management, conflicts and natural disasters, subsidies and safety nets, gender roles, and health. The book consists of nine chapters. The first chapter discusses a changing IFPRI in a changing world. The current and future world food situation is analysed and ways are suggested to increase agricultural production and to explore policies for improving production, trade, and distribution of food so that an increase in the quantity and quality of food would be available for all people. IFPRI has heightened its efforts to raise the awareness about emerging food security issues. In particular, its “2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment” initiative is aimed at promoting policy actions that will lead to food and nutrition security.


Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2978
Author(s):  
Jochen Dürr ◽  
Christian Ratompoarison

Edible insects are a healthy, sustainable, and environmentally friendly protein alternative. Thanks to their quantitative and qualitative protein composition, they can contribute to food security, especially in Africa, where insects have been consumed for centuries. Most insects are still harvested in the wild and used for household consumption. So far, however, little attention has been paid to insects’ real contribution to food security in low-income countries. Entomophagy, the human consumption of insects, is widespread in many rural areas of Madagascar, a country, at the same time, severely affected by chronic malnutrition. This case study was carried out in a region where entomophagy based on wild harvesting is a common practice and malnutrition is pervasive. The data were obtained in 2020 from a survey among 216 households in the rural commune of Sandrandahy in the central highlands of Madagascar. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis were used to show the relative importance of insects for the local diet and to test various hypotheses related to food security. Results show that insects contribute significantly to animal protein consumption, especially in the humid season, when other protein sources are scarce. They are a cheap protein source, as much esteemed as meat by the rural population. There are no significant differences in the quantities of insects consumed by poorer versus richer households, nor between rural and urban households. Insect consumption amounts are strongly related to the time spent on wild harvesting. The importance of edible insects for poor, food-insecure rural areas and how entomophagy can be promoted for better food and nutrition security are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Cristine Medeiros Jacob ◽  
Maria Fernanda Araujo Medeiros ◽  
Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque

AbstractFood biodiversity presents one of the most significant opportunities to enhance food and nutrition security today. The lack of data on many plants, however, limits our understanding of their potential and the possibility of building a research agenda focused on them. Our objective with this systematic review was to identify biodiverse food plants occurring in the Caatinga biome, Brazil, strategic for the promotion of food and nutrition security. We selected studies from the following databases: Web of Science, Medline/PubMed (via the National Library of Medicine), Scopus and Embrapa Agricultural Research Databases (BDPA). Eligible were original articles, published since 2008, studying food plants occurring in the Caatinga. We assessed the methodological quality of the studies we selected. We reviewed a total of fifteen studies in which 65 plants that met our inclusion criteria were mentioned. Of this amount, 17 species, including varieties, subspecies, and different parts of plants, had data on chemical composition, in addition to being mentioned as food consumed by rural communities in observational ethnobotanical studies. From the energy and protein data associated with these plants, we produced a ranking of strategic species. The plants with values higher than the average of the set were: Dioclea grandiflora Mart. ex Benth (mucunã), Hymenaea courbaril L. (jatobá), Syagrus cearensis Noblick (coco-catolé), Libidibia ferrea (Mart. ex Tul.) L.P.Queiroz (jucá), Sideroxylon obtusifolium (Roem. & Schult.) T.D.Penn. (quixabeira). We suggest that the scientific community concentrates research efforts on tree legumes, due to their resilience and physiological, nutritional, and culinary qualities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-165
Author(s):  
Eliana Suárez ◽  
Teresa Mosquera ◽  
Sara Del Castillo

There are no formal female food production organizations in the municipalities of Sibate, Sopo or Sumapaz (Bogotá rural area). Additionally, in the organizations in which women participate, they usually do not hold a decision-making position, which inhibits economic and social development despite the fact that women play an important role in the entire food system (production, preparation, consumption and food utilization). The aim of this research was to characterize the empowerment of rural women as a consequence of associative processes that contribute to food and nutrition security using the "descriptive case" qualitative research methodology. The main results indicated that, even though the participation of women in associative processes promotes decision-making, access to agricultural inputs, technical assistance and economic autonomy, there are still inequalities and inequities between men and women. For these reasons, it is necessary to strengthen associative processes with a cross-cutting gender approach and provide space for participation where both women and men analyze and question traditional roles in the household in order to transform inequity gaps and, therefore, contribute to food and nutrition security.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim Marivoet ◽  
John M. Ulimwengu ◽  
Leysa Maty Sall

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