Socio-Economic Determinants of Expenditure on Food by farm households in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Food accessibility means that there is the economic power to obtain food. This study therefore identified some factors that determine expenditure on food by farm households in Ikara, Makarfi and Giwa Local government Areas of Kaduna State, Nigeria. A 3-stage random sampling technique was used in selecting a total of two hundred and twenty two respondents. Primary data were generated using field interview and structured questionnaires. The analytical tools employed were descriptive statistics, and multiple regression analysis. The socio-economic characteristics of household heads like age, household size, educational status, years of experience in farming, farm size, farm income, were analyzed. Average age of respondents was 42 years with an average of 8 persons per household. About 46% of respondents had no formal education with average farm income of N174, 590.909 per year with an average farm size of 2 hectares. A quantitative determination of the dependence per capita expenditure on food by farm households showed that access to micro credit, farm income and non-farm income were the main determinants of households’ expenditure on food. Agricultural education through adult literacy programmes should be intensified, farmers also need to be encouraged to engage in all year round (rain and dry seasons) farm production to enhance constant access to both farm and non-farm income.