Food Security and Drivers of Food Insecurity among Cocoa Farmers in Ife East Local Government Area, Osun State, Nigeria

The study analysed the food security and drivers of food insecurity among cocoa farming households in Ife East Local Government Area, Osun State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents in the study. Frequency, percentage, Food Security Index and logistic regression were employed for data analysis. The results indicated that most (50.83%) of the respondents were male with 49.17% female. The mean age for the respondents was 61 years, 83.3% of them were married and most (35.83%) respondents were educated. Also, the results indicated that 70.00% of the respondents were not food secured. Gender (odd ratio of 3.050, p< 0.05), age (odd ratio of 1.078, p< 0.1), household size (odd ratio of 0.268, p< 0.01) and meal per day (odd ratio of 3.050, p< 0.01) were responsible for food insecurity among cocoa farmers in the study area. Constraints encountered as reported included limited access to land for cocoa production, inadequate access to good farm road, pest and disease infestations, rituals, high input cost, among others. Study therefore recommends reduction in food insecurity should involve family planning in addition to collaborated efforts by both the government and private sectors through regular orientation that encourages education among farming households on the need to expand their sources of income from agriculture to off-farm income generating business. In addition, farmer groups and government should make available agricultural inputs to cocoa farming households during farming seasons at subsidized prices distributed through farmers association.