Assessing food security among young farmers in Africa: evidence from Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda

Assessing food security among young farmers in Africa: evidence from Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda

Food insecurity remains a serious challenge for many households in Africa and the situation is even more prevalent among young people. However, there is a dearth of empirical evidence on youth food security status in Africa. We assessed the level and determinants of food security among young farmers...

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Published in:Agricultural and food economics Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 4
Main Authors: Adeyanju, Dolapo, Mburu, John, Gituro, Wainaina, Chumo, Chepchumba, Mignouna, Djana, Ogunniyi, Adebayo, Akomolafe, John Kehinde, Ejima, Joseph
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-12-2023
Springer Nature B.V
SpringerOpen
Subjects:
Africa
Agribusiness
Agricultural Economics
Agriculture
COVID-19
Determinants
Diet
Economics
Economics and Finance
Farmers
Food consumption
Food security
Households
Pandemics
Regression models
Young adults
Young farmers
Uganda
Kenya
Nigeria
Africa
Young farmers
Determinants
Food consumption
Food security
Africa
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Summary:Food insecurity remains a serious challenge for many households in Africa and the situation is even more prevalent among young people. However, there is a dearth of empirical evidence on youth food security status in Africa. We assessed the level and determinants of food security among young farmers in Africa. We adopted a multi-stage sampling technique to select 400, 429, and 606 young farmers in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda, respectively. Individual food consumption was assessed following a 7 days recall method. The Food Consumption Score, which combines dietary diversity and consumption frequency was used to assess food security status while the determinants of food security were identified using a logistic regression model. Results suggest low dietary diversity across the three countries. Also, the majority of the respondents had an unacceptable food consumption score, suggesting that despite being food producers, young farmers are still food insecure. The odds of being food secure was positively determined by access to extension services, participation in the ENABLE TAAT business incubation programme, and access to market information but, negatively by access to credit, number of employees, Covid-19 pandemic, and location. Additionally, the food security status of young female farmers was positively influenced by age, suggesting that younger youths are less food secure compared to older ones. These results suggest that more efforts should be directed towards improving the food security of young African farmers and that policy- and programme-level interventions should support access to extension services, market information, and land. Additionally, more investments should be directed towards developing need-based agribusiness incubation programmes with an effort to scale existing programmes beyond the regular one-time period.
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ISSN:2193-7532
2193-7532
DOI:10.1186/s40100-023-00246-x