ASSESSMENT OF THE FOOD SECURITY IMPACT OF KAMPE IRRIGATION DAM AMONG FARM HOUSEHOLDS IN KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

Food insecurity is an overriding problem of most developing countries like Nigeria. For the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of hungry people by 2015 to be achieved, a projection of 22 million people must achieve food security every year. In consonance of the above, empirical evidence pertinent to food security policy formulation and implementation is required. Data used for this study was collected from a total of one hundred and fourty irrigation and non-irrigation farming households using a two-stage sampling technique. The main tools of analysis for this study include descriptive statistics and logistic regression model. The study was carried out to identify determinants of food security status among Kampe irrigation dam farming households in Kogi State, Nigeria. The result of the study indicate that 61.4 % of the irrigation beneficiary surveyed were food secure. The 38.6 % food insecure households had a food security Gap of 17.8 % and a food severity measure of 3.2 %, while 44.3 % food insecure irrigation non-beneficiaries had 20.5 % food insecurity gap and 4.2 % food insecurity. Factors that determine the respondent’s food security status were identified. These factors includes farm household size, farm size, total amount spent on input, as well as total farm income all contributed to food security in the study area. Conclusion, access to irrigation alone does not guarantee food security. The study recommend that, adequate policy should be put in place to address farm income, off-farm income, input cost, farm household family size as well as farm size.