Effect of livelihood activities on food security among farmers in Oyo East Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

This study examined different livelihood activities and food security situations of the Nigerian’s major farm households considering rural farmers in Oyo East Local Government Area of Oyo State as case study. The study made use of a sample of 120 farm households selected across 11 villages in the Local Government Area with the number of households selected proportionate to the size of each location. Primary data used was obtained through a well-structured questionnaire administered to selected respondents. The analytical tools used are descriptive statistics and tobit model. Results showed that only 69.2% of the farm households were food secure. Cassava, yam and their products were shown to contribute immensely to the food security status of the farm households. The constraints faced by farm households in the production of major staple foods were mainly those of poor access to credit facility, high cost of storage equipment and inadequate infrastructure. Despite these constraints, farmers contribute and stored food stuffs during surplus which enhanced their household food security status. The study therefore recommends that strategy should be adopted by farming households in the provision of enabling environment that will support private sector initiative in marketing and post-harvest handlings of staple foods.