Determinants of Change and Household Responses to Food Insecurity: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

Limited economic and physical capacities as well as environmental and economic shocks have constrained the ability of many Nigerian households to feed themselves adequately. This has resulted in these households being faced with food shortages; and they have to adopt various consumption-related strategies to mitigate the effect of the shortfalls. Using the 2010/2011 Nigeria LSMS-ISA survey data and the reduced consumption coping strategy index (RCCSI), this paper examines the determinants of change in food (in)security of Nigerian households in the two major farming periods. Results show that there is a significant difference in the food insecurity status of households in the two periods. The likelihood of change in the food security status were determined by sex of the household head, farmland holdings, nature of livelihood, shocks associated with land loss, and climate change events. Coping strategies in the two periods were dietary change strategies and the rationing strategies. However, the frequency of use of these strategies is higher in the post-planting period and more among female-headed households. The use of high-yielding climate-resistant crops and reduction in post-harvest losses through processing and improved storage facilities are advocated.