Food Insecurity among Urban Households in Nigeria: Recent Evidence from Jos Metropolis, Plateau State

Abstract

For the fact that food insecurity had been considered a rural problem, most empirical studies on food insecurity as well as food security strategies in developing countries have concentrated more on the rural areas as against urban areas. Recently however, increased urbanization in developing countries brings about great challenges for assuring urban household’s food security. To design appropriate policy response, there is need for solid and up-to-date information about the food insecurity situation in the specific contexts. Here we analyze prevalence and correlates of undernourishment among urban households in Nigeria, using recent survey data. Food consumption data were collected, based on the 24 hour food recall, from selected urban households in the Jos Metropolis, Plateau State, Nigeria. The results show that the average daily per capita calorie intake is low in the area, and about 52% of the households are under-nourished, falling short of the recommended minimum calorie intake level by 8.2% on average. Contrary to expectation, under nourishment is more prevalent among male-headed households. There is positive and significant association between food security and household income, lending support to conventional wisdom that income growth can help to reduce food insecurity. Consequently, food security strategies should also include measures to ensure increased earnings for the poor households to enable them increase their calorie intake and nutrition. In addition, our results show that household assets affect per capita calorie intake in a positive and significant way, suggesting that sustained asset accumulation by poor households may play an important role in improving their food security status.