Role of agricultural enterprises in food security status of urban farmers in Ikorodu Metropolis, Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the role of agricultural enterprises in food security status of urban farmers in Ikorodu metropolis. Using a multistage technique, 150 urban farmers were selected and surveyed with a structured questionnaire. Data was subjected to simple descriptive statistics and Spearman rank correlation co-efficient was used to test the hypothesis. Most of the urban farmers (60%) were females with average age of 42 years of an average household size of 7 persons having a mean monthly income of N22, 900.00. Food security mean score of urban farmers was 2.73 indicating food secure without hunger. Relationship between food security and agricultural enterprises reveal the tendency of fruits, vegetables and fisheries as moving urban farmers towards food secure group.  It was recommended that urban farmers concentrate more on the fruit production enterprise, vegetable enterprise and fisheries enterprises to attain food secure groups.

Keywords: Urban farming enterprises, Food security, Ikorodu, Lagos State