Search

Among the four pillars of 'food security' (i.e., 'food availability', 'food accessibility', 'food stability' and 'food utilization'), 'food availability (FA)' underpins the core concept because if food is not available, then the remaining three pillars become weak. This chapter examines the level of food availability at the farm level derived from multiple food crop production by a selected sample of 400 farm households from Ebonyi and Anambra States of South-Eastern Nigeria. FA in this study refers to Partial Food Availability (PFA) because it excludes procurement of food from other sources, e.g., purchase from the market and/or borrow/exchange from others. The chapter also examines farm-size and PFA relationships as well as modern technology adoption and PFA relationships and provides a detailed account of constraints faced by farmers in producing food from farming operations. Results show that the sample is dominated by small-scale farmers (81% of the total sample) owning land <1.00 ha. The average farm size is also small, estimated at 1.27 ha. Sixty-eight percent of the surveyed farmers grew more than one of the three food crops (i.e., cassava, yam and rice) considered in this study. The level of modern technology adoption in food farming is low and mixed. Only 29.00% of the farmers adopted both HYV seeds and fertilizers as a package to produce the major food crops. The average PFA is estimated at 4492.78 Kcals/capita/day produced from one ha of land area, and the households only have surplus PFA for the three winter months (November, December and January) in a year. About 38.09% of the food produced is set aside for own consumption. Among the food crops, 40.70% of cassava output is set aside for home consumption while yam and rice are mainly destined for the market. Inverse farm size-PFA relationship exists amongst the sampled farmers. The relationship between modern technology adoption and PFA is inconclusive. PFA is generally higher for farmers who did not adopt any modern technology. Farmers identified lack of agricultural extension agents, farm inputs and basic infrastructures as the main constraints adversely affecting food production at the farm-level. Policy implications include investments targeted to improve cassava production, extension services, supply of farm inputs and other infrastructure to increase food availability at the farm-level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]