FOOD SECURITY AND POVERTY STATUS OF CASSAVA PROCESSORS IN AWKA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ANAMBRA STATE OF NIGERIA

Cassava is one of Nigeria’s most important root cash crops and plays a key role in food security and poverty alleviation in rural areas. The study assessed the food security and poverty status of cassava processors in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Data were collected with a well-structured questionnaire from a cross section of 490 randomly selected cassava processors in 2019. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, mean threshold from 5 point Likert scale, logistic regression, food security index, and Foster Greer Thorbecke (FGT) poverty status model. The study reveals that the majority (60.8%) of processors is female, it equally summarized that the average age, level of education, processing experience, household size, contact with agricultural officers, enterprise size, monthly income, and monthly expenditure were 45 years, 11 years, 16 years, 9 people, 4 times, 67.36 tons, 126.5204286 USD and 91.91425714 USD at N350 per dollar respectively. The average cassava processing output was 26.02 tons/month and the processor’s food security line was 61.28 USD, while the poverty line was 84.45 USD. The study equally observed that the food security index was 1.5 with the majority (89.59%) of the processors being food secure. Also, the poverty incidence, depth and severity were 0.098, 0.055, and 0.03 respectively, while the poorest processors spent 71.5% of their income on food consumption. Furthermore, the determinants of food security were sex, age, farm size, household size, contact with agricultural officer, and cooperative membership.