The study compared

Key words: Women farmers, Training needs, Vegetable production fact that information do not always trickle from the husbands to their wives.

This study examined the extent to which livestock production has contributed to food security of the rural households in Southwestern Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select respondents for the study. Fifty percent of the states in Southwestern Nigeria and 30% of rural households in the selected local government areas were randomly selected resulting in a sample size of 306 respondents. Household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS), food insecurity scale was used to assess the food insecurity of the respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics while binomial regression was used to determine the determinants of food security at p = 0.05. Most respondents (76.1%) were males and married (83.7%), while about half (46.0%) of them completed secondary education. Mean age, household size and monthly income from livestock enterprises were 48.8 ± 12.8 years, 6.6 ± 3.2 and N45,068 ± 97,077, respectively. A large proportion (71.9%) practiced extensive system of livestock production. Sources of information (β = 5.304), income (β = 7.453) and constraints to livestock enterprises (β = 2.807) increased the odds of their food security. Policies that encouraged that promote diversification of income sources should be promoted to increase entrepreneurs' income in order to improve food security situation of rural households.

No abstract

Women's participation in development programs is supposed to achieve a process of equitable and active involvement of women in the formulation of development policies and strategic activities. It is, therefore, important to determine the level of participation of women in developmental programs as a basis for sustainable food security initiatives in rural households. To that end, a stratified sampling technique was used to select participating and nonparticipating women in community development associations in the Ogbomoso South Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. The study found that 92.7% of the respondents are aware of the development programs in the area, while a majority of them (60.9%) show average levels of participation. Correlation analysis established a negative relationship between participation and the food insecurity profile of the respondents; i.e., participation aided their food security. The study recommends that development programs be used to advance food security initiatives among women in rural areas.