EFFECTS OF SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEME ON FOOD SECURITY STATUS OF BENEFICIARIES IN EKITI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of social scheme on the food security status of beneficiaries in Ekiti state. The general objective of the study was to determine the effects of the social security scheme on the food security status of beneficiaries in Ekiti state, Nigeria. This study made use of interview schedule to elicit information from the respondents. One hundred and twenty respondents were sampled through a multistage sampling procedure. In the first stage, three local government areas (LGAS) were purposively selected to represent the 16 LGAS in the state. The LGAS were Ado, Ekiti east and Gbonyin. In the second stage, four communities were selected in each of the three local government areas, making a total of twelve communities. This gave a sample size of 60 respondents each for beneficiaries and non beneficiaries. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Mean age of respondents was 70years and majority (61.7%) of males were married. The entire respondents claimed they were paid by hand every 30th of the month. The constraints highlighted include cost of transportation to payment sites and political discrimination in accessing the funds. Food security status of the households revealed about 7% of the beneficiaries and 5% non beneficiaries were food secure. More beneficiary households (36.7%) were food insecure but without hunger than non-beneficiary households (26.7%). However, more non beneficiary households (50%) were food insecure with moderate hunger than 46.7% of beneficiary households. Also, 10% and 18.3% of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries respectively were food insecure with sever hunger. Beneficiary households were thus better off with lesser food insecurity. The result further show that educational level (t=-2.81, p< 0.05), farm size((t=3.95, p < 0.00) and household size (t=-8.42, p< 0.00) of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries were significantly different. However differentials in farm size and household size revealed the beneficiaries had larger farm sizes, with less mouth to feed which may have contributed to their food security status. The larger farm size could have contributed to their higher income which might have influenced the food security status. The study concluded that beneficiaries had higher food security status than non-beneficiaries.