Authors : R.O. Babatunde , G.M. Owotoki , F. Heidhues and G. Buchenrieder
Abstract: This study examines vulnerability and food insecurity differences among male and female-headed farming households in Kwara State, north-central Nigeria. It employed a three-stage sampling method to select 60 farming households consisting of 30 male and 30 female-headed households. Indices of households coping strategies and the weighted sum reflecting frequency and severity of households coping strategies were used as a proxy for indicating the vulnerability of male and female-headed households to food insecurity. Anthropometric measurement such as height-for-age, weight-for-height and incidence of stunting and wasting were measured and compared among pre-school children in male and female-headed households. The result shows that the female-headed households were more vulnerable to food insecurity than the male-headed households. There was higher prevalence of wasting and stunted growth among the female-headed households. This probably implies that female-headed households had less access to and utilization of food and are therefore more food-insecure than their male-headed counterparts. The result further showed that household became more vulnerable to food insecurity as the age of household head, household size, dependency ratio and susceptibility of households head to sickness increased. On the other hand, vulnerability to food insecurity decreases as the level of education of household head, total off-farm income, access to extension services, total value of crop produced, amount spent on food, size of land cultivated and number of labour hours increases. It is suggested that women should be given sufficient nutrition education, while, also enhancing the income generating and food production capacity of female-headed households.
R.O. Babatunde , G.M. Owotoki , F. Heidhues and G. Buchenrieder , 2007. Vulnerability and Food Insecurity Differentials among Male And Female-Headed Farming Households in Nigeria . Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 4: 414-418.