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<p>This study was conducted to examine perceived effects of crop diversification on food security status of maize-based farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to obtain data from 183 maize-based farmers using an interview schedule. The data were analyzed using Herfindahl indexing, Food Consumption Score of the World Food Programme for determining household food security and Chi-square test. The results showed that the extent of crop diversification was moderate for slightly above half of the respondents (51.4%). The majority of the respondents (91.3%) had acceptable food consumption (>35), which corresponds to their food security situation. Crop diversification among the farmers indicated positive and significant influence of crop diversification on the food security status of the farmers at 1% level of significance using chi-square. More than half of the respondents perceived that crop diversification had strong effects on increased access to food preferences for an active and healthy life (56.3%), access to utilizable and digestible food (57.4%) and access to sufficient food (53.6%). The study concluded that crop diversification practices contributed to food security by increasing access to preferred sufficient, utilizable and digestible food for active and healthy life of maize-based farmers in Kwara State. Thus, extension agents should increase awareness of the importance of crop diversification for the farmers’ output in the study area.</p>
</abstract>

This study was conducted to examine perceived effects of crop diversification on food security status of maize-based farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to obtain data from 183 maize-based farmers using an interview schedule. The data were analyzed using Herfindahl indexing, Food Consumption Score of the World Food Programme for determining household food security and Chi-square test. The results showed that the extent of crop diversification was moderate for slightly above half of the respondents (51.4%). The majority of the respondents (91.3%) had acceptable food consumption (>35), which corresponds to their food security situation. Crop diversification among the farmers indicated positive and significant influence of crop diversification on the food security status of the farmers at 1% level of significance using chi-square. More than half of the respondents perceived that crop diversification had strong effects on increased access to food preferences for an active and healthy life (56.3%), access to utilizable and digestible food (57.4%) and access to sufficient food (53.6%). The study concluded that crop diversification practices contributed to food security by increasing access to preferred sufficient, utilizable and digestible food for active and healthy life of maize-based farmers in Kwara State. Thus, extension agents should increase awareness of the importance of crop diversification for the farmers’ output in the study area.

Perceived Effects of Crop Diversification on Food Security of Farmers in Kwara State Nigeria

Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension Services

Contemporary Agriculture

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

This study was conducted to examine perceived effects of crop diversification on food security status of maize-based farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. A...

Perceived Effects of Crop Diversification on Food Security of Farmers in Kwara State Nigeria

Publié en ligne: 16 nov. 2023

Pages: 130 - 137

Reçu: 27 avr. 2023

Accepté: 19 mai 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/contagri-2023-0016

Mots clés
crop diversification, food preference, sufficient food, input subsidies

© 2023 Latifat Kehinde Olatinwo et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Perceived Effects of Crop Diversification on Food Security of Farmers in Kwara State Nigeria

Publié en ligne: 16 nov. 2023

Pages: 130 - 137

Reçu: 27 avr. 2023

Accepté: 19 mai 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/contagri-2023-0016

Mots cléscrop diversification, food preference, sufficient food, input subsidies

© 2023 Latifat Kehinde Olatinwo et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Mots clés
crop diversification, food preference, sufficient food, input subsidies