Tenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Achieving food security is still a major problem for households in most rural areas of Nigeria, and hikes in the price of food items have made it even worst. Rising food prices have great impacts on food insecurity since access to food is largely dependent on the price of the various food commodities. This study examines the effects of food price inflation on the food security status of rural farming households’ in Enugu state, Nigeria. Using a multi-stage sampling procedure, eighty rural farming households were selected, while structured interviews were used to elicit information from them. Using the eighteen-item USDA food security survey module, the study revealed that the majority of the households were food insecure, and the cost of production of major crops and prices of major stable foods had been on the increase for the three years (2016, 2015 and 2014). The major cause of food price inflation was climate change, while its major effects on household food insecurity were reduction in caloric intake, poor access to food, and decline in the food stock of the house. Eating foods that are less preferred, skipping one or two meals per day, and reducing the quantity of food consumed were the most frequently used coping strategies in cushioning the effects of food insecurity. In order to halt the galloping increase in staple food prices, the government and policy makers should increase quantities of subsidized basic food items, strengthen consumer price controls, and impose price ceilings on major foodstuffs.