Urgently strategic insights to resolve the Nigerian food security crisis

Summary

Strang et al. (2020) used consensual qualitative research in a six-hour focus group of 16 extension workers, representing about 900 farmers in North-East Nigeria, to find localized, prioritized solutions to the food security crisis. Multiple correspondence analysis produced a significant two-dimension model (19% and 17% of inertia; r² = 0.05, p < 0.05) that ranked affordable seeds and fertilizer, modern farming training, market information, roads and transport, affordable credit and agricultural mentors as the most strategically urgent ideas. A larger sample is needed to represent the whole country.

Practical implication. Government policymakers should prioritize affordable seeds and fertilizer, training, market data, roads and transport, credit and mentoring for rural Nigerian farmers.

The Problem

Nigeria’s food security crisis needs localized, prioritized solutions, but policy rarely draws on the practical knowledge of the extension workers who mentor rural farmers.

The Methodology

Pragmatic inductive study using consensual qualitative research with embedded nominal brainstorming in a six-hour focus group of 16 extension workers, prioritised with multiple correspondence analysis in SPSS 25.

The Core Finding

A focus group of extension workers representing about 900 farmers produced a significant two-dimension model of solutions, ranking affordable seeds and fertilizer, modern farming training, market information, roads and transport, affordable credit and agricultural mentors as the most strategically urgent.

The Citation

Strang, K. D., Che, F., & Vajjhala, N. R. (2020). Urgently strategic insights to resolve the Nigerian food security crisis. Outlook on Agriculture, 49(1), 77–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727019873012 Copy APA

The summary, key findings, methods, implications and relevance notes on this page are this website’s own description of the paper, written from the published abstract and text. The official abstract and citation details are given further down.

The study in detail

What question does this paper answer?

What localized, data-driven and prioritized solutions, grounded in the knowledge of agriculture extension workers, could resolve the food security crisis facing rural farmers in Nigeria?

What did the study find, in detail?

A 6-hour focus group of 16 agriculture extension workers from three North-East Nigeria LGAs (representing about 900 farmers) produced ideas that multiple correspondence analysis organized into a significant two-dimension model (dimensions explaining 19% and 17% of inertia; r² = 0.05, p < 0.05). The most strategically urgent ideas were access to affordable seeds and fertilizer, modern farming knowledge and training, market information, road and transport infrastructure, affordable credit, and agricultural mentors.

Why does it matter?

The authors argue that food security solutions in Nigeria fail unless they are data-driven and customized by local experts to local sociocultural conditions. Their prioritized model is intended to generalize to rural farmers in Nigeria and to government policymakers in developing countries, pointing to fixes such as restoring input distribution, supporting extension workers and creating farmers’ cooperative unions.

This study is part of the evidence overview What is holding back Nigerian agriculture and farm technology adoption? Evidence from extension workers and farmer surveys

Methods and data

Definitions and key terms

Food security

The condition in which people have reliable access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food; the paper notes food insecurity affects about 11% of the world’s population and up to 64% in some Nigerian states. — as used in Strang et al. (2020)

Consensual qualitative research (CQR)

A qualitative method used at the group level of analysis in which researchers interpret and reach consensus on data collected from participants (Hill et al., 2005). — as used in Strang et al. (2020)

Multiple correspondence analysis

A non-parametric multivariate exploratory technique that estimates and plots the relationships among more than two categorical factors so that related ideas appear close together. — as used in Strang et al. (2020)

All key terms across the publications →

Abstract

The food security crisis is a serious worldwide predicament in developing countries but it is a relatively larger problem in Nigeria. We argued there was no solution for the Nigerian food security crisis because researchers had not customized theoretical models with data-driven priorities grounded on local agriculture subject matter expert knowledge. We collected data from local agriculture extension workers who had specialized knowledge of the problems. We applied the consensual qualitative research method with embedded nominal brainstorming and multiple correspondence statistical techniques at the group level of analysis to develop a proposed solution. Our final model highlighted strategically urgent ideas to increase agriculture productivity and appease the most severe constraints in rural Nigeria. The results extended what was already published in the literature and should generalize to rural farmers in Nigeria as well as to government policymakers in developing countries around the world.

Abstract as published in Outlook on Agriculture.

Keywords: Food insecurity; agriculture extension research; consensual qualitative research; focus group; correspondence analysis; agricultural policy; agricultural economics

Limitations and open questions

• The method is inductive: the authors chose the keywords used to partition the four quadrants and label the ideas, which was subjective (mitigated by member checking).
• The sample of 16 agricultural extension workers was small, although it represented over 900 farmers from Adamawa State, Nigeria; a larger sample is needed to represent the whole country.
• Additional studies and multiple analytical methods are needed to validate and extend the findings in Nigeria and other developing countries.

Open questions

• Would restoring input dissemination through the extension system, extension-worker allowances and farmer cooperatives measurably raise productivity?

Open questions from the evidence overview Agriculture, food security and farm information systems.

Practical implications

• Government policymakers can treat access to affordable seeds and fertilizer, modern farming knowledge and training, market information, road and transport infrastructure, affordable credit and agricultural mentors as the most strategically urgent ideas.
• Researchers and policymakers should make food security solutions in Nigeria data-driven and customized by local experts to local sociocultural conditions; the authors argue that solutions otherwise fail.
• The authors’ prioritized model, intended to generalize to rural farmers in Nigeria and to government policymakers in developing countries, points to fixes such as restoring input distribution, supporting extension workers and creating farmers’ cooperative unions.
• Researchers applying multiple correspondence analysis to qualitative focus group output should note that the authors chose the keywords used to partition the four quadrants and label the ideas, which was subjective (mitigated by member checking).

Drawn from Strang et al. (2020), Outlook on Agriculture, 49(1), pp. 77–85.

When this research may be relevant

This article may be relevant to researchers seeking prioritised, practitioner-derived interventions for food security in Nigeria and West Africa — seeds and fertiliser access, training, market information, roads, credit and mentoring — and to methodological work applying multiple correspondence analysis to qualitative focus group output.

Research topics addressed: food security; Nigeria; rural farmers; agriculture extension workers; agricultural policy; agricultural productivity; consensual qualitative research; focus group; nominal brainstorming; multiple correspondence analysis; Adamawa State; developing countries; farm financing and credit; agricultural inputs

How to cite

APA 7

Strang, K. D., Che, F., & Vajjhala, N. R. (2020). Urgently strategic insights to resolve the Nigerian food security crisis. Outlook on Agriculture, 49(1), 77–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727019873012Copy APA citation

MLA 9

Strang, Kenneth David, et al. “Urgently strategic insights to resolve the Nigerian food security crisis.” Outlook on Agriculture, vol. 49, no. 1, 2020, pp. 77–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727019873012.Copy MLA citation

IEEE

K. D. Strang, F. Che, and N. R. Vajjhala, “Urgently strategic insights to resolve the Nigerian food security crisis,” Outlook on Agriculture, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 77–85, Mar. 2020, doi: 10.1177/0030727019873012.Copy IEEE citation

@article{strang2020nigeria,
  title = {Urgently strategic insights to resolve the Nigerian food security crisis},
  author = {Strang, Kenneth David and Che, Ferdinand and Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao},
  journal = {Outlook on Agriculture},
  volume = {49},
  number = {1},
  pages = {77--85},
  year = {2020},
  publisher = {SAGE},
  doi = {10.1177/0030727019873012},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727019873012}
}

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AU  - Che, Ferdinand
AU  - Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao
JO  - Outlook on Agriculture
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/03
VL  - 49
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PB  - SAGE
SN  - 0030-7270
DO  - 10.1177/0030727019873012
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Links and files

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727019873012
• This page as text: https://www.narasimharao.net/research/nigeria-food-security-crisis-agriculture-extension-strategies/paper.md
• Permanent address of this page: https://www.narasimharao.net/research/nigeria-food-security-crisis-agriculture-extension-strategies/