Changing Food Consumption Patterns and Land Requirements for Food in the Six Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria
Research on food consumption in Nigeria has mainly focused on food intake, household diversity, and purchasing power. We investigated a knowledge gap for food consumed by households and the land requirements for food resulting from household consumption patterns. The food consumed and the household...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Foods |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/2/150 |
| _version_ | 1797494137378832384 |
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| author | Jeffrey Chiwuikem Chiaka Lin Zhen Yu Xiao |
| author_facet | Jeffrey Chiwuikem Chiaka Lin Zhen Yu Xiao |
| author_sort | Jeffrey Chiwuikem Chiaka |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research on food consumption in Nigeria has mainly focused on food intake, household diversity, and purchasing power. We investigated a knowledge gap for food consumed by households and the land requirements for food resulting from household consumption patterns. The food consumed and the household size determine the land requirement for food. Therefore, a quantity-based analysis and a land demand methodology were applied to derive household food quantity and land requirements for food respectively. The results show that a greater percentage of household income is spent on cereals and starchy roots as the main source of calories and that cowpea is a secondary food option for households. In addition, households are changing their dietary intake from rice to maize and rice to cassava and yams as a cheaper alternative and experts’ measurements of food security at the household level indicates that households in our study are moderately food insecure. Other findings show that the country’s specific and per capita land requirements for food have gradually increased between 2000 and 2018. Across the six geopolitical zones, Northern regions with higher populations have high land requirements for food, especially for rice and maize (cereals), while Southern regions have high land requirements for cassava and yams (starchy roots) due to their respective consumption and household sizes. In addition, from our study, the land requirements for food show the actual cropland area of South South fed 5000 households. Consequently, a scenario analysis shows that the land requirements for food in our study exceeds the entire geographical area of Nigeria. Therefore, continued population growth without improved living standards and adequate food production output per hectare will further exacerbate food insecurity and land shortage in Nigeria. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:30:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b48cda98fbb74c0bb899cf2bdbfcfaf3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2304-8158 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:30:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Foods |
| spelling | doaj.art-b48cda98fbb74c0bb899cf2bdbfcfaf32023-11-23T13:44:29ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582022-01-0111215010.3390/foods11020150Changing Food Consumption Patterns and Land Requirements for Food in the Six Geopolitical Zones in NigeriaJeffrey Chiwuikem Chiaka0Lin Zhen1Yu Xiao2Key Laboratory for Resources Use and Environmental Remediation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaKey Laboratory for Resources Use and Environmental Remediation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaKey Laboratory for Resources Use and Environmental Remediation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaResearch on food consumption in Nigeria has mainly focused on food intake, household diversity, and purchasing power. We investigated a knowledge gap for food consumed by households and the land requirements for food resulting from household consumption patterns. The food consumed and the household size determine the land requirement for food. Therefore, a quantity-based analysis and a land demand methodology were applied to derive household food quantity and land requirements for food respectively. The results show that a greater percentage of household income is spent on cereals and starchy roots as the main source of calories and that cowpea is a secondary food option for households. In addition, households are changing their dietary intake from rice to maize and rice to cassava and yams as a cheaper alternative and experts’ measurements of food security at the household level indicates that households in our study are moderately food insecure. Other findings show that the country’s specific and per capita land requirements for food have gradually increased between 2000 and 2018. Across the six geopolitical zones, Northern regions with higher populations have high land requirements for food, especially for rice and maize (cereals), while Southern regions have high land requirements for cassava and yams (starchy roots) due to their respective consumption and household sizes. In addition, from our study, the land requirements for food show the actual cropland area of South South fed 5000 households. Consequently, a scenario analysis shows that the land requirements for food in our study exceeds the entire geographical area of Nigeria. Therefore, continued population growth without improved living standards and adequate food production output per hectare will further exacerbate food insecurity and land shortage in Nigeria.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/2/150food quantityfood expenditurefood intakehousehold sizepopulationGeopolitical Zones in Nigeria |
| spellingShingle | Jeffrey Chiwuikem Chiaka Lin Zhen Yu Xiao Changing Food Consumption Patterns and Land Requirements for Food in the Six Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria Foods food quantity food expenditure food intake household size population Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria |
| title | Changing Food Consumption Patterns and Land Requirements for Food in the Six Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria |
| title_full | Changing Food Consumption Patterns and Land Requirements for Food in the Six Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria |
| title_fullStr | Changing Food Consumption Patterns and Land Requirements for Food in the Six Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Changing Food Consumption Patterns and Land Requirements for Food in the Six Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria |
| title_short | Changing Food Consumption Patterns and Land Requirements for Food in the Six Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria |
| title_sort | changing food consumption patterns and land requirements for food in the six geopolitical zones in nigeria |
| topic | food quantity food expenditure food intake household size population Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/2/150 |
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