Benue State University, Makurdi

Rising Cost of Food Prices and the Insecurity in Makurdi Metropolis, Benue State-Nigeria

Timothy Tyowase Anchovur, Donald Tarfa Ende, Fanen Dekera and Benjamin Terzungwe Tough

Abstract

Soaring food prices has had a global toll on food security. This study accessed how rising food prices affect food security in Nigerian cities with a focus on Makurdi Metropolis. The objectives of the study were to find out the nature of food prices, identify the factors that influence the rising food prices, ascertain the effects of the rising food prices on food security and suggest measures that will reduce high cost of food and ensure food security. The study adopted Rational Choice Theory as a theoretical guide. Data for the study were collected from 379 respondents using Questionnaires. The study hypothesised that high food prices do not affect physical and economic access to food. However, tested at 0.5 significant level, the Chi-Square result shows that high food prices have a significant effect on food security. Findings also revealed that increase in exchange rate, government embargo on some food stuffs, low production by farmers, population increase and purposeful increment by marketers are the factors that have led to the rise in the cost of food prices. Other findings revealed that due to the high cost of food prices, the quantity and quality of food purchased by households in Makurdi is negatively affected thereby reducing the quantity of nutritional food that is required for household consumption. The study recommends, among others, that government should revisit its food importation policy and ensure that food items that are not produced enough locally to meet up with demand are allowed into the country until local production is capable of meeting the demands of the population. Government should set up maximum prices on food items so that consumers can afford to buy foodstuffs that would meet up with their household physical and nutritive consumption needs.

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