Although agriculture is t he major economic activity in Nigerian rural areas , its inhabitants are among the most vulnerable to food and nutrition insecurity. Therefore, any effort aimed at minimizing food and nutrition insecurity must start from rural areas. This study examines agricultural production, food and nutrition security in rural areas of the Benin region in Nigeria , highlighting the major constraints . A measure of household food and nutrition security used in this study is based on dietary intake, real wage rates, employment , and incidence of illness and adequacy norms. This study is based on a food frequency questionnaire survey administered using systematic random sampling technique , participatory assessment technique, interviews with stakeholders and published materials . So me indices employed in measuring food and nutrition security i n this paper are physical access , which is measured in relation to availability of agricultural infrastructure such as roads , while economic access is measured in terms of income, expenditure and estimated profit margins. Two pre - tested questionnaires were administered in 20 rural communities in the Benin region to elicit information from respondents were analysed using simple descriptive techniques like charts, tables and percentages. Subsistence agriculture is the main stay of the studied rural economies and is dependent mainly on rain - fed, low - technology - driven cultivation with no access to modern farm inputs. Farming alone is the main source of income for 57% of the respondents , while fishing and trading account for the other 43%. T he study reveal s that although 60% of respondents are engaged in agriculture, their access to food and nutrition is in secure due in part to unstable incomes , seasonality of harvest and inadequate health and sanitary conditions . Also, lack of storage facilities in these rural communities has increased post - harvest losses and has reduced farmers ’ /household incomes , thereby worsening their food insecurity situation . The study also found that rural - urban migration result s in shortage of manpower for agricultural activities . L ack of access to fertilizer and poor infrastructure are major factors for the decline in agricultural production in the last five years in the sampled communities. The study recommends t he need for a considerable and sustained government investment in agriculture and the provision of basic facilities to support education, health care, sanitation and safe drinking water supply . This will help to ensure food and nutrition security and help to curtail rural – urban migration .
Climate change is already seen to be impacting on every aspect of life on earth especially in the agricultural sectors of developing nations. In Nigeria, and indeed the world over, seasons are shifting, temperatures are rising, landscapes are changing and sea levels are rising. Extreme event like drought and flood are becoming more frequent and pronounced. FAO in2009 further highlighted that Agriculture is expected to pay a significant cost of the damage caused by climate change. Nigeria as one of the African countries is highly vulnerable to the influence of climate change (IPCC, 2007), as this is already being experienced, in form of extreme events such as flooding, droughts in some Northern States, heat/cold waves, changes in weather patterns which have posed serious challenges to the sustainability of rice production.This will have implication for rice farming especially in Nigeria, where rain-fed agriculture is predominant, the onset and cessation of the rains ascertain the cultural practices of farmers, such as land preparation, crop variety selection and planting to harvesting (Odekunle, 2004; Umar, 2010). The implication of this will be interference with food security as rice is an essential food crop in Nigeria that is consumed by a large number of the population.The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 2018, has warned that hunger in Africa is being made worse by the impacts of climate change as itthreatens the capacity of vulnerable countries to guarantee food security, poverty elimination and actualize sustainable development. The increasing rate of food insecurity in the world leading to different form of malnutrition is worrisome and more needs to be done in the areas of agriculture in order to ensure food security and improve on nutrition if a world without hunger is to be achieved by 2030.
This study assesses the concentrations of nutrients and metals in river bed sediments of Ogba River, a fourth-order river in Southern Nigeria. Most rivers in this region are exposed to untreated industrial and domestic wastewater discharge, including atmospheric deposition from crude oil exploration activities. River bed sediment samples were collected from four sites located downstream of an urban sewage discharge and agro-allied industry wastewater release point. The results showed statistically significant differences in sediment particle size distribution, nutrient and metal concentrations across the sites. The sediment particle size distribution was dominated by sand (92%), with mean pH range of between 5.1 and 6.0. Concentrations of metals and nutrients were highest in sediments of Site 2 located in close proximity to refuse dump sites and arable land use. Total organic carbon (TOC) and nitrate (NO3--N) were negatively correlated with sand but positively related to clay (P<0.01). No significant relationship was found between metals except for Ni and cadmium (Cd), and Fe and Ni. In addition, no significant relationship was found between TOC and metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb and Ni), suggesting that in this fluvial system TOC may not be effective in the complexation of metals.Key Words: Sediment, metals, nutrients, freshwater, Nigeria
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