YAM PRODUCTION AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO HOUSEHOLD INCOME AND FOOD SECURITY IN ZABZUGU

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine yam production and its contribution to household income and food security in Zabzugu. The techniques of data collection employed were Questionnaire administration, focus group discussion, in-depth interviews and observation. Simple random sampling was used to select fifty (50) households for the study. Employing primary and secondary data, the study demonstrated that yam contributes significantly to households' livelihood in the study area. The study revealed that households derive their income from three prominent sources namely, income from animal rearing (8.2%), crops production (77.7%) and non-farming activities (14.2%). Yam production contributes 66.2% to household income and 40% to household food security. Other crops used by households as food sources include maize (30%), groundnuts (6%), beans (4%), cassava, (16%) and rice (4%). On the average, households earn about OHO 2098.1 a year (GEO 174.8 a month). Yam contribution to food security is affected by increased commercialisation (60%), poor economisation (24%) social factors (6%) and pests and diseases (10%). It was also realized that the problem of inadequate capital, pests and diseases, marketing and transportation constraints, high cost of production and a host of others tend to hamper the growth of the yam industry. In this regard, addressing these challenges through extension of loans to farmers, improvement of the road network and increased access to extension services could help in finding a remedy to the myriad of challenges facing the industry.