Food security threat factors, policies and challenges

C ONTENTSChapter 1 The Role of Cassava Production in Improving Food Security in the Delta State of Nigeria 1 Bonaventure C.. An investigation was conducted in Ndokwa West Local Governme

F OOD S ECURITY

T HREAT F ACTORS , P OLICIES

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C ONTENTS

Chapter 1 The Role of Cassava Production in Improving

Food Security in the Delta State of Nigeria 1

Bonaventure C Onodu and Richard J Culas

Chapter 2 An Assessment of Rural Women’s Use of

Information and Communication Technologies for Food Security Information in

Ifeoma Q Anugwa, Agwu E Agwu, Jane M Chah and Cynthia E Nwobodo

Chapter 3 Women Food-Crop Entrepreneurs in

Southwestern Cameroon: Challenges to

Lotsmart Fonjong

Chapter 4 The Contribution of Diaspora Remittances to

Household Food Security in the Tsholotsho

Thomas Marambanyika and Clara Ndlovu

Chapter 5 Rice Food Security in the Pearl River Delta, China:

P REFACE

The 20th century saw the most rapid and most dramatic agricultural transformation in human history Science-based agriculture brought about many changes on the farm that transformed agriculture from subsistence to a more productive and profitable modern industrial based agriculture Cassava is one of the main sources of world carbohydrate with Africa recognized as the highest producing continent and Nigeria as the highest producing country Chapter One conducted an investigation in Nigeria to find out the variable inputs that affects the output of cassava farming households Chapter Two assesses rural women’s level of use of information and communication technologies for food security information in the oil rich Niger Delta Chapter Three explores the changing socio-economic environment of food production in Cameroon and its implications on food security Chapter Four discusses the contribution of diaspora remittances to household food security in in Zimbabwe Chapter Five focuses on rice food security in the Pearl River Delta of China, and demonstrates that the joint application of silicon and phosphorus fertilizers is an appropriate option to minimize arsenic accumulation in rice grain

Chapter 1 - The 20th century saw the most rapid and most dramatic agricultural transformation in human history Science-based agriculture brought about many changes on the farm that transformed agriculture from subsistence

to a more productive and profitable modern industrial based agriculture Cassava is one of the main sources of world carbohydrate with Africa recognized as the highest producing continent and Nigeria as the highest producing country Cassava provides food security as it can be grown on less fertile soils, it is a source of income for farmers and provides food for many household An investigation was conducted in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta state Nigeria to find out the variable inputs that affects the output

of cassava farming households Estimation from a linear regression model, evidence from primary data collected at the study area, reveals that inputs such

as planting materials and labour significantly affect cassava production These findings indicate that as the amount of planting materials and labour utilized by the farmer’s increases, cassava production also increases The primary data was also analyzed in relation to the socioeconomic characteristics of cassava producing households These empirical analyses can help to highlight the policies required for improving cassava production in Delta State of Nigeria The rate of food insecurity in Nigeria has been increasing due to lack of economic access to food either directly or indirectly Evidences show that inappropriate agricultural policies and programs by governments in Nigeria have been the contributing factors to the rate of food insecurity The improvement in food production resulting in an increase in food security requires consistent improvement in labour productivity and yield These will hence have a positive impact on the socioeconomic wellbeing of smallholder farmers Therefore understanding the relationship between cassava production, farm income and food security is important for designing appropriate intervention strategies

Chapter 2 - Information and communications technologies (ICTs) represent

an important strategy that can be used by rural women in attaining food security This study therefore assesses rural women’s level of use of information and communication technologies for food security information in the oil rich Niger Delta, Nigeria A total of 120 rural women farmers were selected using the multi-stage sampling technique Structured interview schedules were administered to them Data collected were analyzed using frequency, mean scores, percentage and multiple regression Results of the study revealed that 40% of the respondents had access to food security information through various ICTs Findings also showed that radio was the most used source of food security information (50.0%) by the women relative to television (39.6%) and mobile phone (10.4%) A regression analysis between the personal and socio-economic characteristics of the women and use of ICTs revealed that marital status (t = -2.880; p = 0.043), household size (t = 2.902; p = 0.035) and educational status (t = 2.157; p = 0.053) significantly influenced rural women’s use of ICTs for food security information The respondents further indicated that poor income (M = 1.60) among others were perceived constraints to the use of ICT among rural women The study therefore recommends that concerted efforts should be made by extension agents to ensure that women-specific programmes are broadcasted on television and radio so as to help them get the needed information to improve their household food security situation

Chapter 3 - Cameroon’s high agricultural potential makes of it the breadbasket of the Central-African sub-region However, recent events, and especially the 2008 food crisis, have all but damaged that image In the absence

of an active, supportive agricultural policy environment, food production is threatened, especially as agricultural land and labor, respectively, opt for opportunities that offer higher rents and wages The burden of doing much with little to meet the growing internal and external food demands falls on women who are also constrained by their reproductive role This chapter explores the changing socio-economic environment of food production in Cameroon and its implications on food security It examines the emerging phenomenon of women

food-crop entrepreneurs, locally known as buyam-sellam, and underlines the

difficulties caused by inadequate state attention to agriculture and how women have taken up the challenge While highlighting some of the success stories of these food-crop entrepreneurs, the chapter underscores some of their limitations

in achieving food security without a clear macroeconomic policy framework that is committed to protecting women, fighting poverty and hunger, and guaranteeing national food security

Chapter 4 - Zimbabwe has been experiencing economic crisis since the turn

of the 21st century, resulting in most economically active people mainly in the southern districts, including Tsholotsho, migrating to surrounding countries in the SADC region, especially South Africa Despite the prevailing semi-arid conditions affecting predominantly rain-fed agriculture being worsened by the apparent effects of climate change, human movements further disrupted food security strategies which local communities were accustomed to Therefore, this paper assessed the contribution of diaspora remittances to household food security in Ward 19 Chefunye, Tsholotsho district in Zimbabwe Data were collected through a questionnaire targeting a total of one hundred and twenty-four households receiving and not receiving remittances and key informant interviews with development partners, government departments and local leadership A comparison of the extent to which remittances receiving and non-receiving households were stabilizing the key aspects of food security, that is, availability, access and utilization was done The results revealed that households receiving remittances were more food secure as shown by higher number of meals consumed (p = 0.010) and dietary diversity These households, other than using remittances money to purchase food, managed to invest some

of the money in the construction of a dam for irrigation, adoption of drought tolerant small grains and the purchase of livestock, strategies which further contributed towards attainment of sustainable household food security Households not receiving remittances also benefited from loans, piece jobs and

food availed by remittances-dependent households However, the contributions

of remittances at household level vary depending on inflow frequency and channel used Most people are currently using informal channels (such as

omalayitsha, bus drivers and individuals) associated with high risk of loss and

delays The current modes of remitting are necessitated by high costs and distant locations of formal channels Therefore, low-cost, accessible, efficient and secure channels to remit resources to rural areas should be established if optimum food security benefits are to be obtained from remittances

Chapter 5 - China’s Pearl River Delta has become the largest urban area in the world in both size and population according to the World Bank Group Rice

(Oryza sativa) serves as the major staple food for people in Pearl River Delta

Unfortunately, rice is particularly vulnerable to the arsenic (As) uptake and accumulation compared to other cereal crops, thus posing a potential health threat to populations with high rice consumption The development of potential strategies to reduce As accumulation in rice grains is of great importance Two soil pot experiments were conducted by using joint phosphorus (P) and silicon (Si) fertilization with soil and foliar applications to alleviate As accumulation in rice grown in As-spiked soil The results indicated that soil fertilization generally increased rice biomass, whereas foliar fertilization generally decreased rice biomass Regardless of soil and foliar applications, Si and/or P fertilizers reduced As accumulation in rice grain by an average of 22% and 22%, respectively, compared to no fertilizer treatment This study demonstrated that joint application of Si and P fertilizers, regardless of soil and foliar application,

is appropriate option to minimize As accumulation in rice grain although foliar application may result in loss of rice yield

Chapter 1

School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Orange NSW, Australia

The 20th century saw the most rapid and most dramatic agricultural transformation in human history Science-based agriculture brought about many changes on the farm that transformed agriculture from subsistence to

a more productive and profitable modern industrial based agriculture Cassava is one of the main sources of world carbohydrate with Africa recognized as the highest producing continent and Nigeria as the highest producing country Cassava provides food security as it can be grown on less fertile soils, it is a source of income for farmers and provides food for many household An investigation was conducted in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta state Nigeria to find out the variable inputs that affects the output of cassava farming households Estimation from a linear regression model, evidence from primary data collected at the study area,

 Bonaventure C Onodu: School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences, Charles Sturt University,

PO Box 883, Orange NSW 2800, Australia E-mail: chidibonaventure@yahoo.com

†

Richard J Culas: School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences, Charles Sturt University,

PO Box 883, Orange NSW 2800, Australia e-mail: rculas@csu.edu.au

reveals that inputs such as planting materials and labour significantly affect cassava production These findings indicate that as the amount of planting materials and labour utilized by the farmer’s increases, cassava production also increases The primary data was also analyzed in relation to the socioeconomic characteristics of cassava producing households These empirical analyses can help to highlight the policies required for improving cassava production in Delta State of Nigeria The rate of food insecurity in Nigeria has been increasing due to lack of economic access to food either directly or indirectly Evidences show that inappropriate agricultural policies and programs by governments in Nigeria have been the contributing factors to the rate of food insecurity The improvement in food production resulting in an increase in food security requires consistent improvement in labour productivity and yield These will hence have a positive impact on the socioeconomic wellbeing of smallholder farmers Therefore understanding the relationship between cassava production, farm income and food security is important for designing appropriate intervention strategies

Keywords: cassava production, productivity, food security, farm income,

socioeconomic factors, cassava-value chain, Delta State of Nigeria

1 INTRODUCTION1.1 An Overview of Global Cassava Production

The 20th century saw the most rapid and most dramatic agricultural transformation in human history Science-based agriculture brought about rapid changes that transformed agriculture from a subsistence nature with the use of crude implements to a more productive and profitable industrial based agriculture As production in agriculture continues to improve and farmers’ succeeds in their various agricultural activities in terms of income generated from their various activities, many were motivated to specialize in particular crops or livestock products (Ajijola et al., 2012)

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) one of the plants of interest to many

tropical farmers is a perennial woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge) family which produces edible roots and leaves (Gaffney et al., 2012) The genus Manihot comprises 98 species of which M esculenta is the mostly widely cultivated (Chandrasekara and Kumar, 2016) The origin of cassava has been traced to Latin America where its cultivation by the indigenous Indian population has been recorded for over 4000 years, it is widely cultivated as an

annual crop in the tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root and sometimes its leaves (Akinpelu et al., 2011) Cassava is mainly suited under the range of climatic conditions between 300N and 300S latitude, growing

in regions from sea level to 2300 mm altitude, usually in areas where other crops may not thrive well (Oluwole, 2015) In Africa cassava is a good source of carbohydrate in daily diet (Akinpelu et al., 2011) The global utilization of cassava as food and as industrial raw material varies according to region In Africa cassava is mainly grown for food, in Asia it is produced mainly as a raw material for industries such as for the production of ethanol; while in Latin America and the Caribbean it is mainly grown and used for animal feed (Gaffney et al., 2012) Globally, cassava is regarded as a multipurpose crop with numerous uses and by products (Ogunniyi, 2011) In some part of the world cassava leaves are used as vegetable in human diet or dried and fed to livestock

as a protein supplement The stem is used for vegetative propagation while the roots are processed for human, animal and industrial consumption

Cassava cultivation is dominated by smallholder farmers in more than 100 tropical and subtropical countries who use less than 2 hectares of land for production (Oluwole, 2015) The ability of cassava to utilize water and soil nutrients efficiently, being able to withstand drought and pests/diseases, use low

or no inputs such as fertilizer and still produce reasonable yields make it one of the main staple food crops recognized for food security (FAO, 2000) The main nutritional value of cassava is carbohydrates but it contains some vitamins such

as calcium, vitamins B and C, and essential minerals (Sanni, et al., 2009) Despite the enormous nutritional value of cassava, it contains harmful substance called cyanogenic glucoside All cassava organs except the seeds contain cynogenic glucoside (CG), the most abundant (CG) is linamarin (85%) with less amount of lotaustralin (Alves, 2002), cultivars with less than 100 mg kg-1 fresh weight (FW) are called “sweet” cassava while cultivars with 100-150 mg kg-1are “bitter” cassava The harmful substance in cassava is very poisonous but can

be reduced to harmless level during processing using different processing methods However, nutrient composition in cassava differs according to variety and age of the harvested crop, soil conditions, climate, and other environmental factors during cultivation (Montagnac et al., 2009)

Although there was continuous growth recorded in global food production yet sub-Saharan Africa is the only region that is still ravaged by the menace of hunger for the past three decades (Eme, et al., 2014) The focus of many researchers in agriculture has been to make food available, accessible and affordable to ensure adequate daily supply of calories for people all over the world (Safwan and Mohammed, 2016) In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), root and

tuber crops are the main contributor of the nutritional value in people daily diet, accounting for about 50% of the total staple food consumed (Safwan and Mohammed, 2016) Cassava is regarded as a staple crop that is essential for food security, not only because it can be grown on less productive land, but because

it is a source of income for producers and generally a low cost source of food for consumers (Plucknett et al., 2000) The global harvest recorded in cassava

in 2012 was more than 280 million tonnes, a 60 percent increase since 2000 (FAO, 2013) For many decades the average percentage increase in production has been 2.2 percent per annum, this increase in growth has been attributed to the increase in area of planting rather than an increase in productivity (yield) (Hillock, Thresh and Bellotti, 2002) Apart from food, cassava is very versatile and its derivatives and starch are applicable in many types of products such as foods, confectionery, sweeteners, glues, plywood, textiles, paper, biodegradable products, and drugs (Sanni et al., 2009) A recent report by FAO in 2015 shows that cassava has the potential to meet the needs of over 500 million farmers who grow it, is also capable of providing the base for rural industrial development and a higher income for producers, processors and traders through its numerous value chains

Almost 60 percent of the entire world cassava production is concentrated in five countries; Nigeria, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil and the Congo Democratic Republic as represented in Figure 1 (FAO, 2013) Global production is estimated at over 270 million tonnes, grown in over 20 million hectares

Source: FAO, 2004

Figure 1 Cassava production among the ten world leading countries

Table 1 Major importers of cassava products in the world

Value (USD(M))

Share in world import (%)

Unit value (USD/ton) Fresh and dried cassava

of product’s bulky and perishable nature Thailand is the dominant supplier to world markets, accounting for almost 80 percent of global entire trade; Vietnam and Indonesia both have a supply share of about 8 percent; and a few Countries

in Asia, Africa and Latin America provide for the remainder The major cassava importing countries can be shown in Table 1; it can be inferred Table 1 that world market for fresh and dried cassava is more than the market for starch with

a share difference of more than USD 1 billion Only a relatively small part of world production of cassava is traded internationally In Nigeria more than two-third of the total cassava output is consumed as food by humans while lesser amount is used in animal feed and for industrial purposes (Tonukari, 2004)

To boost cassava production in Nigeria and make it readily available as food for human consumption, production of animal feed and industrial purposes, the

federal government in conjunction with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) initiated cassava multiplication program with the purpose

of promoting cassava utilization as a commodity based approach against food security (Iyagba and Anyanwu, 2012) This strategy has made cassava production a major employer of rural labour and has improved the economic wellbeing of rural communities through the generation of a stable farm income and employment opportunities along the value chain during processing and marketing of produced products in urban centers (Onyebinama and Onyejelem, 2010) The major debate emanating from the producers of cassava products is that majority of the profit from cassava production and marketing are mainly enjoyed by wholesalers, processors and retailers while farmers who perform the main work in production make the least profit, this is not acceptable considering the time and cost involved in cassava production

1.2 Problem Statement

Recently, production of cassava is on the increase but not at a rate to effectively meet the food requirements of Nigerians Nigerian population is increasing at the rate of 3.2 percent while food production is increasing at a rate less than one percent, showing that food demand is greater than food supply, an indication that Nigerian food equation is not balanced because demand is greater than supply (Metu et al., 2016) In the 1960’s and early 1970’s Nigeria was food self-sufficient but has recently become a net food importing nation, spending

on average of 2 billion dollars importing about six tonnes of wheat, $750 million on rice, $700 million on sugar and $500 million on milk and other dairy products per annum (Ojo and Adebayo, 2012) In 2006, Global Index of Hunger ranked Nigeria as the 20th among the nations being ravaged by poverty Notwithstanding that production is low, there is still increasing loss recorded in agricultural post-harvest products which was attributed to inadequate processing and storage facilities (FAO, 2011) Continuous decline in production recorded

in agricultural sector reported by Onyemauwa (2010) has resulted in tremendous rise in food prices and an increase in import bills The high cost of nutritious food in Nigeria makes food inaccessible for low income households hence, widening the gap of food insecurity Food intake and nutritional wellbeing of many households in Nigeria is of relative low quantity and is affected by their low economic status A Report by World Development Indicator in 2015 shows that 60 percent of Nigerians live with less than USD 1.25 per day, also reported

by FAO (2011), maintaining that household food insecurity, under-nutrition and

micro nutrient deficiencies are found throughout Nigeria The above statement was affirmed by the past minister of Agriculture and Water Resources when he said that 65 percent of Nigerians entire population is not food secured, that 40 percent of children below 5 years experienced stunted growth while 25 percent

of them are under weight (Ojo and Adebayo, 2012)

The food insecurity situation experienced throughout Nigeria has been attributed to the inappropriate role by government in food and agriculture, which manifests as policies that are poorly executed (Nwose, 2013) The challenges faced in making food available and accessible to all Nigerians has been attributed to improper funding of the agricultural sector by the government (Eme

et al., 2014) Carbohydrate food sources form the greatest percentage of daily diet for many people around the world In Nigeria, starchy staples (cereals, roots/tubers) and legumes constitutes the majority of the diet consumed traditionally (Udenta et al., 2014) For an improvement in food production in Nigeria which will ensure food security, proper funding of agricultural projects for consistent improvement in yield and labour productivity is required which

in turn will improve the socioeconomic infrastructures in agriculture and upgrades the quality of human resources The existing knowledge on food and nutrition security in Nigeria does not offer detailed information at the household level, which is critical for improving food and nutritional status of the citizens Understanding the interconnectedness between household food and nutrition security is important to better target and design intervention strategies The need

to critically examine the characteristics of cassava farming households to determine the policy measures required to enhance their productivity, generate higher income and employment as a way of making them food secured triggered this investigation

1.3 Objective of the Study

The main objective of this study is to examine cassava production in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State Nigeria: implications for farm income and food security The specific objectives are; (i) to examine the socio-economic characteristics of the cassava producing farmers in the study area; (ii) to determine the factors influencing cassava production in the study area and discuss policies and measures to improve the productivity; (iii) to explore the opportunities to improve household income of cassava farmers from

a value chain perspective

Section 2 of the chapter reviews contribution of cassava production in Nigeria The status of food security in the country is discussed in section 3 Section 4 details the study area in Delta state of Nigeria, data and methods Results and discussion are presented in section 5 Section 6 presents a cassava value chain framework and new opportunities to explore for the cassava famers, followed by a conclusion in section 7

2 LITERATURE REVIEW2.1 Cassava Production in Nigeria

Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world Its production is currently put at about 33.8 million metric tonnes a year Total area harvested of the crop in 2001 was 3.1 million hectares with an average yield of about 11 tonnes per hectare Cassava is being regarded as the most widely cultivated crop

in the country (Omoregbee and Banmeke, 2014) It is the most important root crop in Nigeria in terms of food security, employment creation, and income generation for crop producing households because of its large production by many farmers (Ugwu and Ukpabi, 2002) The demand for cassava products have been increasing and the cultivation of cassava is expanding to areas where cassava was not previously cultivated

According to the report by Omodamiro et al (2007, more than a hundred people on daily bases utilize 500 Kcal from cassava in Nigeria The major portion of cassava is its starchy root, which matures to harvest within 8 to 18 months of planting, depending on cultivar and climate (Ugwu and Ukpabi, 2002) Mature cassava tuber has the capacity to remain in the soil for months when mature but when harvested it has a shelf life of only a few days if not treated or processed The production of cassava as a food crop fits well into the smallholder farming system in Nigeria because it is available all year round, thus ensuring household food security and stable income Production of cassava

is predominantly located in the southern and north central regions of Nigeria (James and Faleye, 2015), however, cassava is grown in 24 out of Nigeria’s entire 36 states (Coulibaly et al., 2014) In 1999, Nigeria produced 33 million tonnes of cassava, while a decade later, it produced approximately 45 million tonnes, which is almost 19% of the entire global production, with an average yield per hectare of approximately 11 tonnes The trends in cassava production

in Nigeria from 1990-2003 is shown in Figure 2

Source: FAO, 2004

Figure 2 Level of cassava production in Nigeria from 1990-2003

Source: CEDP 2005 (Cassava Enterprise Development Program)

Figure 3 Production of cassava by geopolitical zones

The data released by Cassava Enterprise Development Program (CEDP, 2005) showed that on per capita basis, North Central is the highest producing zone at 0.72 tonnes per person in 2002, followed by south-east (0.56), south-south (0.47), south-west (0.34), north-west (0.10) and north-east (0.01) National per capita production of cassava is 0.32 tonnes per person The major cassava producing states are Imo, Ondo, Anambra, Kogi, Taraba, Cross River, Enugu, Ogun, Benue, Delta, and Edo The contribution to cassava production

by geo-political zones in Nigeria is presented in Figure 3 In total, the southern states account for 64% of the entire quantity of cassava produced in Nigeria

Investigations have confirmed that over four-fifths of the cultivable land area in Nigeria is suitable for cassava growing (Ope-Ewu et al., 2011) Muhammad-Lawal et al (2013) reported that 80% of Nigerians reside in the rural areas and they eat cassava meal at least once a day, when compared with rice and maize, cassava has the carbohydrate content which is about 40% greater than rice and 25% more than maize, also cassava provides a cheap source of calories for both human and animal The main value of cassava is the starchy roots, but the leaves are also eaten in some places in Africa Cassava leaves contain about 7% protein on a fresh weight basis and 20-30% on a dry weight bases, it can compete with soybeans in terms of protein quality and it is high in lysine (Cock, 1985) Globally, the traditional use of cassava is changing from primary human consumption to being processed into industrial products such as starch, flour and pharmaceutical product The common processed cassava products in Nigeria includes; gari, akpu, tapioca, starch, chips, and flour Discoveries have shown that cassava has the potential to industrialize Nigeria more than any other crop According to Awoyinka (2009), Nigeria can earn about US$5 billion per annum from cassava and its by-products making it

a key foreign exchange earner and instrument for job creation and catalyst for development Consumption of cassava products in Nigeria varies according to ecological zones Gari, a roasted granule is the main processed product from cassava and is widely consumed in both rural and urban areas It can be consumed without any additional or it may be consumed with some additives such as sugar, groundnut, fish, meat and stew The daily consumption of cassava per capita per day in Nigeria can be shown in the Table 2; from the consumption pattern shown in Table 2 surprisingly urban and rural consumption are almost equal, confirming that cassava is truly a national crop accepted and eaten irrespective of class or status

Table 2 Cassava consumption per capita per day in Nigeria

Grams per person per Day

Source: (DSDP, 2014)

Figure 4 Cassava production in Delta state

2.2 Cassava Production in Delta State of Nigeria

The importance of agriculture in the overall economic development in Delta state cannot be overemphasized 70 percent of the entire Delta state population depends directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihood and in 2012 agriculture contributed 13 percent to the state Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (DSDP, 2014) The main agricultural products grown in Delta state of Nigeria ranges from arable crops such as (cassava, yam and maize), tree crops and perennial (oil palm, rubber, raffia palm and plantain and fruits and vegetables (pineapple, citrus and tomato) (DSDP, 2014) Crop production in Delta state as shown in Figure 4 is mainly on the upland (rain-fed) systems which accounts for (80.4%), while the swampy (lowland) and irrigated land are 17.8% and 1.8% respectively Over the period from 1999-2012 there was a great increase in the area under crop production especially in cassava where the area cultivated increased from 72000 hectares in 1999 to 132000 hectares in 2010-2012 (DSDP, 2014) Oyiaide (1999) reported that 92% and 80% of farm families in Delta state and Shell Petroleum Development Company operating in Delta State grew cassava as major crop

The reason while Shell an oil company is getting involved in cassava production was as a part of their community development programs An initiative which aims at using the major staple food crops to enhance the lives

of their host communities

2.3 Contribution of Agriculture to Nigerian Economy

In spite of the importance of oil to the economic development of Nigeria, it has remained an agrarian economy, with agriculture still a major contributor to GDP and total exports as well as provision of employment Before becoming one of the oil producing countries in the 1960’s agriculture was among the major factors holding the economy firm, accounting for about two-thirds of the Gross Domestic Product With the oil boom which resulted in the neglect of the agricultural sector by the government, the overall agriculture’s contribution to GDP declined to 25 percent by 1980’s and Nigeria moved from being a large exporter to a major importer of agricultural products (Awoyinka, 2009) Currently as a result of a decline in oil revenue and policy measures implemented by the government geared towards improving and revitalizing agriculture, agriculture’s contribution to GDP has risen to about 40 percent Despite the neglect of agriculture in preference to oil by the government yet agriculture still remain the highest sector that employ the great percentage of Nigeria population, employing two-third of the Nigerian labour force, contributing 40 percent to the Gross Domestic Product in 2007 and provided 88% on non-oil earnings (Ogunbameru and Okeowo, 2013)

A wide range of agro-ecological conditions in Nigeria allows for very diverse crop production The northern part of the country is suitable for sorghum, millet, maize, cowpea, groundnut and cotton while the main food crops in the middle belt and the south are mainly cassava, yam, plantain and maize

Broadly speaking, the cassava-growing belt falls within three ecological zones of the southeast, southwest and the central areas The first two zones fall within the humid tropics Soil type in the south is very low in fertility and mineral reserves but can be improved by addition of soil nutrients in form

agro-of fertilizer or organic matter (Ogunbameru and Okeowo, 2013) The survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2011 shows that cassava, yam and maize contributed 36.49%, 27.22% and 6.95% respectively to crop production value of the GDP The growth rate in the major crops grown in Nigeria is shown in Table 3

From Table 3 it can be deduced that cassava output grew by 0.9 per cent, the increase may be linked to an increase in the use of improved cassava cuttings made available by many root crops research institutes an initiative of the government in using cassava as a driver of national economic growth The initiative from government to use at least 10.0 per cent of cassava flour in baking bread boosted output in cassava production Rice production increased by 1.0 per cent, from 4.0% in 2010 to 5.0 in 2011 However, despite the country’s top position in cassava production, Nigeria is yet to make much impact on the global cassava market, since most of its production is consumed domestically But with new initiatives under way aimed at increasing and improving cassava production and developing new ways to use the crop, Nigeria hopes to utilize cassava as part of its strategy to diversify its economy

Table 3 Growth in major crops production in Nigeria

Food availability: this refers to the physical existence of food On national

level food availability is a combination of the domestic food production, commercial food imports and exports, food aid and domestic food stock

Source: Authors’ construction

Figure 5 Conceptual framework on food security in Nigeria

Accessibility: this is achieved when all households have enough resources

to obtain food in sufficient quantity, quality and diversity for a nutritious diet This depends mainly on the household resources and on prices

Utilization: this relates to the ability of human body to take food and convert

it This gained energy is very important when it comes to daily physical activities

Stability: to be food secure a population, household, or individual must have

access to adequate food at all times They should not be at risk of losing access

to food as a consequence of a shock (e.g., an economic or climatic crisis)

Malnutrition: this situation results from deficiencies, excesses or

imbalances in the consumption of macro and/or micro nutrients Malnutrition may be an outcome of food security

The relationship between cassava production and household income can never be overemphasized (Figure 5) The relationship was affirmed by Maxwell

et al (1999), they stated that most households access food during planting seasons from the income they realized from their previous sales or from their off-farm work After each planting season cassava farmers are expected to earn reasonable amount of income from the sale of their raw or processed produce, the income gotten from their cassava production may also be channeled into purchasing other food crops that they desire hence, increasing the food accessibility rate The income can also be reinvested into the production of other commodities such as livestock and crops, giving rise to diversification of the farming enterprise and increasing the farmers’ food base and providing insurance for food security

3.1 Global Food Security

The availability of food and nutritional status are important aspects of health and wellbeing Poor nutrition as a result of intake of insufficient, low quality food can make one vulnerable to ill health The world food summit defined food security as a condition “where all the people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO, 1996) Despite all the efforts of the national government and international community to reduce global hunger and malnutrition the percentage of the undernourished people in the developing countries still persists About 850 million people around the world are still faced with undernourishment (FAO, 2006) The main contributors to global food insecurity include trade restrictions imposed by major food exporters, and preference by farmers for the production of biofuel stocks instead of staple food

Interventions for addressing food insecurity have been agricultural-based and tailored towards the improvement of household access to food The Millennium Development Goal progress assessment on food security, maintained that the developing countries such as Nigeria are not likely to achieve the goals linked to food and nutrition security (World Bank, 2012) The reason for the above statement was as a result of the number of undernourished people The FAO defined undernourishment as “the consumption of fewer than about 1800 kilocalories a day” (FAO, 2012) The prevalence of under-nourishment in Nigeria, China and India can be represented in Table 4 From Table 4, the percentage of the undernourished population in China and India is gradually declining while it is increasing in Nigeria, this situation can be attributed to the political instability in the country and failure in government policies to address the problem of food security (Ahugwa et al., 2014)

The rate of undernourishment in Africa is very alarming as illustrated in Table 5 Among the entire six countries it is only Nigerian that the population

of undernourished people is still on the increase, other countries are either constant or decreasing This situation calls for urgent action to ameliorate the problem many poor households are facing

Table 4 The prevalence of undernourishment percentage

in Nigeria, China and India

Nigeria (%) China (%) India (%)

3.2 Food Security Situation in Nigeria

Despite the agricultural policies and strategies established by the past and present Nigerian government, food insecurity still persists (Orefu, 2012) Although agriculture remains a key component and driver of Nigerian economy, contributing to about 40 percent of GDP and employing about 70 percent of the active labour force yet it receives only about 10 percent of the entire national budget (Orefu, 2012) This situation has resulted in a complete failure in the agricultural sector and made it unable to provide Nigerians with sufficient food

in both quantity and quality Unavailability of food to feed the constant growing population in Nigeria has continued to increase the level of food insecurity Rate

of food insecurity has increased from 18 percent in 1986 to 41 percent in 2004 (Sanusi et al., 2006) With an estimated population of about 160 million, the implication is that over 61 million Nigerians are food insecure, that is, they are either not getting the recommended daily calories or they are not getting the normal nutrition from food they eat or they are starving (Orefu, 2012) This is not surprising regarding that about 52 percent of Nigeria population live below poverty line Current reports show that Nigeria still spends huge amounts on importing food products into the country (Ahugwa et al., 2014) To achieve food sufficiency in Nigeria, attention should be given to increasing local food production

3.3 Government Interventions and Strategies to Curb Food Insecurity in Nigeria

The federal government of Nigeria has initiated and undertaken many programs geared towards making food available and accessible for all her citizens, some of the programs include: Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) in

1976, Green Revolution (GR) in 1980, Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) in 1986 and the National Land Development Authority (NALDA) in 1992 None of these programs ended with the initially anticipated goals The failure of these programs was attributed to none inclusion of the main people who are the beneficiaries of the program in its planning and implementation also, the top-down approach used for the programs implementation did not incorporate the opinion of the targeted beneficiaries (Adawo, 2011)

Although cassava is an important source of dietary carbohydrate and provides food for many households, the crop is still regarded as an inferior crop

(Nweke, 2004), inferior crop is a crop that its consumption decreases as income increases It is mainly grown by poor farmers with limited resources and low external inputs, for these farmers they see cassava as insurance for food security Nigeria being recognized as the highest producer of cassava in the world, yet the export percentage of the product remain (0.001%) of the total world cassava export market (Onyebinama and Onyejelem, 2010) The reason for a low export

in cassava products in Nigeria is because more than 95 percent of the entire production is consumed as food The data provided by FAO (2013) as the Nigerian food balance sheet shown in Table 6, it can be seen that Nigeria annual cassava production in 2013 was 53 million metric tons out of it 20.6 million metric tons was consumed as food, only 11 thousand metric tons was exported while 6.08 million metric tons were wasted due to inadequate processing and preservation facilities

4 MATERIALS AND METHODS4.1 Study Area

The study was carried out in Ndukwa West Local Government of Delta state Delta State is one of the 36 states in Nigeria, it is located in the Southern part of Nigeria; situated in the region known as the Niger Delta The state lies approximately between longitude 5000 and 6045’E and latitude 5000 and 6030’N, with annual mean rainfall and temperature of 2000-2300 mm and 28-30C respectively (Nwajei, 1993) Its elevation above sea level is about 150 m (Nwajei, 1993) It is bounded in the North by Edo State, the East by Anambra State, South-East by Bayelsa State, and on the southern flank is the Bight of Benin which covers about 160 kilometers of the state coastline The important rivers in the region are Niger, Ethiope, Adofi and Umu while the Ase creek is the major creek Two geographical seasons are identified in the state; the rainy season which is from late March to the end of October and dry season which is from November to early March Delta state was created out of the old Bendel state on 27th of August, 1991 with Asaba as its headquarter It State has a population of about six million, seven hundred and ten thousand, two hundred and fourteen (6,710,214) people (NPC, 2006) with a land mass of about 17,698

km2 The map of Delta state is as shown in Figure 6

Table 6 Nigeria food balance sheet of 2013

Prod Imp Stock

Source: CEDP 2005 (Cassava Enterprise Development Program)

Figure 6 Map of Delta state showing the study area

Delta State comprises mainly Anioma, Urhobo, Isoka, Ijaw and Itsekiri and the whole ethnic-groups that make up the state are administratively grouped into three senatorial districts namely Delta North, Delta south and Delta central The Local Government Areas that make up Delta State are; Aniocha North, Aniocha south, Bomadi, Burutu, Ethiope East, Ethiope West, Ika North East, Ika south, Isoko North, Isoko South, Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West, Okpe, Oshimili North, Oshimili South, Patani, Sapele, Udu, Ughelli North, Ughelli South, Ukwuani, Uvwie, Warri North, Warri South and Warri South West Ndokwa West has its headquarter in Kwale Reported in census record, It has an area of 816 m2 and a population of about 149 325 (NPC 2006) Ndokwa West comprises of; Kwale, Utagba-uno, Onicha ukwuani, Emu, Ogume, Abbi, Etua, Umusam, Umuseti oliogo, Umusadege Ndemili, Illogwe Simper, Nja and others The dominant language in the area is Ukwuani and English, it is one of the highest oil producing local government area in Delta State Ndokwa West falls under the Delta North Senatorial district for administrative purposes and it shares boundary in the North with Aniocha Local Government Area and Ndokwa East Local Government Area in the East Majority of the population are Christians, which is about 90 percent while the remaining 10 percent are traditionalist and pagans (Ngbakor et al., 2014)

4.2 Sources of Data

The study adopted the multi-stage stratified random sampling procedure First, Ndokwa west Local Government Area was purposively selected for the study, the reason being that majority of the cassava output in the entire Delta state were produced by them Secondly, three towns were also purposively selected because they constitute the nucleus of cassava producing towns in the Local Government Area In each of the three towns, one village was randomly selected and in each of the villages 20 cassava households were randomly selected from the list of cassava producing households gotten from the list of farmers in the communities The list of farmers was obtained from the Local Government Area office of Agricultural Development Program (ADP) for the study A well-structured questionnaire was administered to 60 respondents out

of which 44 responses were obtained Variables tested include the economic characteristics of the cassava farmers; age, marital status, years of farming experience, education qualification and household size Others include planting materials, labour, farm size, household size and output (Appendix)

socio-4.3 Data Analysis

Basic statistical tools were employed in the analysis of objective (i) the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents such as frequency, percentages and counts Simple linear regression analysis was used to analyze objective (ii) Objective (iii) was achieved through the review of literature on constraints to cassava production and exploring cassava value chain The effect

of variable inputs on cassava production (output) was estimated using a model following Apu and Oragwam (2009) The implicit form of the model can be specified as follows:

where:

Y = Cassava output (kilogram)

X1 = Planting material (Bundle)

X2 = Labour (mandays)

X3 = Farm size (Hectare)

X = Household size (Number)

by the government, it will lead to reduction in area cultivated and hence reduce the entire generated output

From Table 8, 78 percent of the respondents have been to school while only about 22 percent has not tasted education implying that with high rate in education attainment in the study area, any innovation that is introduced in order

to increase their food security will be easily adopted

Table 7 Frequency and percentage distribution

of respondents by household size

Household size Frequency Percentage

Table 8 Frequency and percentage distribution

of respondents by level of education

Educational Attainment Frequency Percentage

Source: field Survey data, 2016

Table 9 Frequency and percentage distribution of respondents by age

Source: field Survey data, 2016

Table 10 Frequency and percentage distribution

Source: field Survey data, 2016

Table 9 shows that cassava production in the study area is mainly dominated

by the youth of the age bracket which ranges from 26-55 accounting for a percentage of 44, 36 percentage of the respondents are elderly while 20 percent are still young and lack the basic experience required for cassava production The implication of this is that any new innovation introduced for the purpose of boosting cassava production will be easily adopted

Table 10 shows that majority of the respondents (66%) are female while (34%) were male This agrees with what Okorji (1983), he stated that in Abakaliki Ebonyi State in the Southern part of Nigeria women owned more

cassava farm than male and cassava is a female crop In order to increase cassava production, many male farmers should be encouraged to go into cassava production to increase output and also increase their income

Table 11 Frequency and percentage distribution

of respondents by farming experience

Farming experience Frequency Percentage

Source: field survey data, 2016

Table 11 showed that 37 percent of the respondents have the experience of over 20 years of cassava production, 33 percent of the respondents have experience ranging from 1-5 years indicating that new people are going into cassava production, 22% have the experience ranging from 6-10 years The implication of this is that many people in the study area have seen the benefits derived in cassava production and any incentive from government in the form

of subsidy will boost production in the study area because many people are now embracing cassava farming in the area

Table 12 revealed that majority of the respondents 66 percent were married indicating that cassava production in the study area is mainly done by married people This implies that married people have unpaid labour that they can channel into production hence minimizing cost in cassava production

Table 12 Frequency and percentage distribution

of respondents by marital status

Table 13 Model summary

Change statistics

F Change df1 df2 Sig F

Change

Predictors: (Constant), H H Size, F Size, Labour, P Metr

5.2 Determinants of Factors Influencing Cassava Production in the Study Area

A multiple regression analysis was employed to analyze factors influencing the level of food security (cassava output) in the study area, the result are shown

in Table 13 and 14

The result shows that two out of the four coefficients of explanatory variables (independent variables) were significant; indicating that any change in any of the variables will result in a change in the output (food security) among the cassava farmers in the study area All the variables have a positive relationship with the output Positive relationships indicate that any increase in the explanatory variable; planting material, labour, farm size and household size will lead to an increase in food security (output) of cassava farmers in the study area The result in Table 14 shows that as planting materials, number of hectare cultivated, the amount of labour channeled into production and the number of individuals in a household increases so will the level of cassava output produced among the farmers in the study area The constant was negative and insignificant, implying that measures should be taken to increase the soil fertility

in the study area in other to boost production In general approximately 28 percent of the variations in the level of production (output) among the cassava farmers in the study area was explained by the independent variables included

in the regression model as shown by the coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.279)

6 VALUE CHAIN CONCEPT IN AGRICULTURE

Chain can be said to mean sets of interconnected activities structured in sequences of stages (da Silva and da Souza Filho, 2007) In agricultural, food

and fiber sector, chain encompasses activities that take place at farm level, including input supply, and continue during first handling, processing and distributions To have a better understanding of the activities through which a firm develops competitive advantage and create value, it is necessary to separate the activities into stages of value-generating activities known as value chain Value chain has been seen as a vehicle by which new forms of production, technologies, logistics, labour processes and organizational relations and networks are introduced (Ahmadu and Idisa, 2014) As agricultural activities continue to undergo changes, the interest in value chain appraisal has been growing too Generally, value chain is regarded as a very useful conceptual tool when trying to understand the factors that impact the long-term profitability of business and when developing a successful strategic plan for business Value chain is a sequence of related business activities (functions), beginning with the provision of specific inputs for a particular product, moving through the phases

of primary production, transformation and marketing, and ending with the final sale of the product to consumers (UNIDO, 2009) As products progressively move through the successive stages, transactions between chain actors-producers, processors, retailers take place Money exchanges are made, information is exchanged and value is progressively added

a Dependent Variable: Output

6.1 Cassava Value Chain in Nigeria

The importance of cassava to Nigerians cannot be over emphasized due to the fact that it is a main source of food to its citizens (PIND, 2011) The Cassava Value Chain presents the major markets for cassava products, the major actors involved in the production, processing, and marketing of cassava, and their relationships as they move product from the farm through to the markets till they

get to the final consumers (Ahmadu and Idisa, 2014) Cassava has the potentials

to increase farm income, reduce rural and urban poverty and help to close the food gap (Nweke, 2004) In Nigeria, cassava is currently being promoted as industrial raw material in the form of starch, flour and ethanol Hence, many development initiatives are underway by government and private sector for the processing of cassava into intermediate products for use by local industries and for export (PIND, 2011) Though cassava farmers in Nigeria are yet to attain the expected technical efficiency in their production due to their inability to access external inputs such as fertilizers and herbicides, the wide scale adoption of high yielding varieties and the resulting increase in yield have shifted the problem in cassava sector from supply (production) to demand issues, such as finding new cassava value chain and markets The estimates of cassava industrial use in Nigeria shows that approximately 16 percent of cassava tuber was utilized as chips in animal feed, 5 percent was processed into syrup concentrate for soft drinks and less than 1 percent was processed into high quality cassava flour used

in biscuits and confectionery, dextrin, adhesives, starch and hydrolysates for pharmaceuticals and seasonings while up to 88 percent is consumed by humans

of which 50 percent of it were processed (Ene, 1992)

Source: Authors’ construction

Figure 7 Cassava value chain in Nigeria

Many players operate in cassava value chain in Nigeria The cassava value chain map shown in Figure 7 represents the various processed products which can be derived from cassava as it passes through the value chain Fresh cassava can be processed into chips right in the farm by farmers or can be sold to commercial scale processors who then process them into many components such as ethanol, animal feed, cassava flour, starch, glucose or to traditional fresh food processors that will process them into various traditional food such as Gari, Fufu, and other consumables Commercial processors of animal feed can extend the processes of the cassava chips into further differentiated products such as, ruminant feed, poultry feed and aquaculture feed The processed products like flour, starch and glucose can be processed further into baking, brewing, pharmacy, textile, oil and gas The commercial and industrial processors are potential new opportunities to explore Further researchers could look into the medicinal value of cassava in order to increase the health status of the various households in the study area

go a long way in solving the problem of food insecurity not only in Delta state but in the entire country at large

SUGGESTIONS

Majority of the farmers in the study area are smallholder and very poor, they cannot afford to buy some farming inputs such as fertilizer and improved planting materials If the government can assist with the provision of subsidy, it

3.1 Global Food Security

The availability of food and nutritional... agricultural policies and programs by governments in Nigeria have been the contributing factors to the rate of food insecurity The improvement in food production resulting in an increase in food security. .. rise in food prices and an increase in import bills The high cost of nutritious food in Nigeria makes food inaccessible for low income households hence, widening the gap of food insecurity Food