Nexus of livelihood diversification on food security status among rural households in Agbani agricultural zone of Enugu state, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the nexus between livelihood diversification and food security among rural households in the Agbani agricultural zone Enugu state. The objectives of study were to: ascertain the livelihood diversification strategies of the respondents; determine the livelihood diversification index; determine the food security status of the rural households; and the relationship between livelihood diversification and food security. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select the sample size of 90 respondents. Data was collected using questionnaire and was administered using a Computer Assisted Personal Interview (Kobocollect). The data collected were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and chi-square. The findings revealed that the respondents were involved in on-farm and non-farm livelihood diversification strategies such as animal production, agro-processing/value addition, crop production, farm wage labour, trading, construction/contract work, transport services, tailoring, and hairdressing.The result of the livelihood diversification index showed that the majority (93.3%) of the respondents had a low diversification index. Also, the food security status showed that only 20% of the respondents were food secure, 47.8% were mildly food insecure, 31.1% were moderately food insecure while 1.1% were severely food insecure. The chi-square showed that there was no significant relationship between livelihood diversification and the food security status of the respondents (X2 (3, N=90) = 4.25, P =.236). The study recommended that Government should organize programmes and interventions to boost the capabilities of the respondents to diversify since they are lowly diversified.