ANALYSIS OF FOOD SECURITY STATUS AMONG RURAL FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN MUBI NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

The study analyzes Food security status among rural farming households in Mubi North local Government Area of Adamawa state, Nigeria. Respondents' socio- economic characteristics, food security status determinants of household food security and production constraints faced by respondents in achieving food security in the study area were investigated. Data were collected from one hundred and twelve (112) randomly selected rural farmers in six villages of the six (6) selected wards of Mubi North local government area using structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analysis. The result revealed that 72.32% of the respondents were male and 75% were married. Majority (72.33%) of the respondents had one form of formal education or the other and with a mean farming experience of 12 years. The respondents were mostly in their economically active age (mean age of 37 years) and cultivate an average of 2.95 hectares of farm land using personal savings. The mean per capita food expenditure per month was estimated to be N6, 205.11 and the value was used as food security index, and majority (74.10%) of the households were food secured in the study area. The result further revealed that educational level, farm size, farming experience and total monthly income of household heads were positively related to households' food security status, while age of households' head was inversely related to food security status. The major production constraints to achieving food security status in the study area include; poor access to credit facilities (98%), high cost of agro-chemicals (81%) inadequate and high cost of fertilizer (78%), shortage of labour (77%), poor storage facilities (62%) and inadequate extension visit (51%). The study among others recommended that rural farmers should be trained on farm management efficiency to boost production capacity and they should explore non-farm income to augment their existing income so as to increase their potentials considering that most of the farmers are youths.