NATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF FOOD SECURITY IN NIGERIA.

BY:

Babalola, Funmilayo Blessing(AEE/09/6075)

Department of Agricultural Economics and ExtensionSchool of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology,

The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria

INTRODUCTION• Food security is the ability of countries, regions or households

to meet target levels of food consumption on a yearly basis

• Food security is a state of affairs where all people at all times have access to safe and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life

• Similarly, according to the committee on world food security, it connotes physical and economic access to adequate food for all household members, without undue risk of losing the access.

• While food security for individuals is often the main focus of attention, there are also household, national and international dimensions of food security.

PROBLEM STATEMENT Both developed and less developed countries, as well as

international organizations have paid greater attention to food and nutrition matters in the recent past because of the greater awareness of the important roles which food and nutrition play in economic growth and development.

In consideration of these roles, the position of less developed countries is rather uncertain because food and nutrition problems have recently increased and have constituted constraints on their development.

One unfortunate fact is that the proper dimensions of food and nutrition problems are either not known or not properly appreciated.

Therefore, this study is designed to identify determinants of food security at national level,

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study would be to find out the determinants of food security as it affects Nigeria’s economic growth for the period of 1980-2010.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS• What is the situation of food security in the country?

• What are the determinants of food security?

• What are the policy options and prospects for food security in Nigeria?

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDYBroad objective • To analyze the national determinants of food

security in Nigeria Specific objectives : to• examine the food security situation in Nigeria

• identify determinants of food security at national level

• to make a policy recommendation as related to prospects for food security in Nigeria.

HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDYThe study would test the following hypotheses.

• H0: There is no significant relationship between agricultural gross domestic product and food security.

• H0: There is no significant relationship between food import and food security.

• H0: Population does not have any significant impact on food security.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

• This research project would be useful in knowing the situation of food security in the country and to also know the actual determinants of food security.

• It would also be useful to the government in making

impactful decisions on issues concerning food and agriculture in our nation.

METHODOLOGYSTUDY AREA: NIGERIASOURCES OF DATA: Secondary data ;National Bureau of Statistics publications, Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, Food and Agriculture Organization.

MEASUREMENT OF FOOD SECURITY Major variables which can serve as indicators of food security include the following:• Net food availability per capita.

• Index of food price inflation.

• Per capita calorie and protein intake.

• Percentage of the population (or of households) with energy intake that is below the national average requirement.

• Food gap which may be measured as the percentage short fall in the actual average energy intake relative to the average energy requirement.

Net food availability is defined as:

FAt = Qt + Mt + Vt – Nt – Xt – Lt……………………………………….(1)Where;FAt: Net food availability (in gram equivalent) in year t.Qt: Domestic output of food in year t.Mt: Quantity of food imported in year t.Vt: Change in national food stock carry-over in year t.Nt: Total quantity of food required as inputs and non-food industrial use in year t.Xt: Quantity of food exported in year t.Lt: Quantity of post- harvest food loss in year t. When FAt is divided by population size, we have net food availability (for human consumption) per capita.

Food Price Inflation:FPI = f (AGDP, PCI, FM, FX, POP…)……………………………………..(3)Where:• FPI: Food Price Inflation (food security)

• AGDP: Agricultural Gross Domestic Product

• PCI: Per Capita Income

• FM: Food Import

• FX: Food Export

• POP: Population