An assessment of youth migration and food security among farming households in Kwara state, Nigeria

Food insecurity is quickly becoming a key topic in economic growth and development. The Nigerian food insecurity situation is deteriorating due to the frequent migration of energetic and able-bodied youth from rural to urban areas. Hence, this study examined the food security status before and after youth migration and assessed the impact of youth migration on farming household food security. A two-stage sampling technique was employed to obtain data from 240 respondents. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, the food security index and binary logistic regression. The results revealed that most (86.3%) of the respondents were males with an average age of 48.5 years. The reasons behind youth migration are poor roads, the search for white-collar jobs and the laborious nature of farming. Furthermore, the average yield before and after youth migration was 1878.8 kg/ha and 885.9 kg/ha of grain equivalent, respectively. Moreover, 61.7% of households were food-secure while 38.3% were food-insecure before youth migration. Worse still, after youth migration, 70% of the households were food-insecure and 30% were food-secure. The variables determining the food security of a given area were the ratio of rural youth migrants to household size, crop yield difference, level of education, household size, food crop losses, the volumes of cereal, legume, and root and tuber crops consumed and access to remittances. Governments at all levels should provide basic infrastructural facilities in rural areas to encourage youth to stay home. Young people should also be made aware of the negative consequences of migration. Policies aimed at household size reduction should be implemented to increase household food security as well.