Factors influencing the food security of smallholder farmers in Yambio County, South Sudan

Abstract

The global population is projected to reach 9.7 billion people by 2050. This will require a 60% increase in global food production. Additionally, over 815 million people are chronically undernourished especially in parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia, where 22.8% and 14.7% of the overall populations are undernourished, respectively. Globally, food is the most basic of all human needs. Food security is therefore an important measure of well-being of a household or community and thus food availability, food access, food utilization and stability is paramount. This study sought to investigate the factors influencing food security of smallholder farmers in Yambio, South Sudan. The specific objectives were to evaluate the relationship between access to extension services and food security, to assess the relationship between the size of cultivated land and food security and to analyze the relationship between access to credit and food security. The study was anchored on the food security model and the theory of access. The study used a descriptive survey design and targeted a population of 700 farmers in Bazungua Payam. Simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 255 farmers. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire and the data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The study found that extension services through the acquisition of agricultural knowledge and capacity strengthening of farmers had a positive correlation with food security. Further, land ownership and food availability were positively correlated, however, land size and food security were negatively correlated. Equally, formal credit sources had a weak negative correlation with food security, while access to informal credit sources and food security were negatively correlated. It was concluded that in order to achieve food security, there should be easy access to extension services like training farmers on good agronomic practices and crop management techniques. That increasing the number of farmers who own land will result in a corresponding increase in food production and therefore an improvement in food security. The study further concluded that there was limited access to credit sources to boost farming activities such as purchase of farm inputs and machinery. The study recommends that in order to achieve sustainable food security in Yambia County and the country at large, the government of South Sudan needs to increase budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector which will in turn be invested in the provision of agricultural extension services to the farmers. Banks and microfinance institutions in Yambio County in collaboration with the government of South Sudan need to come up with tailored programs that will enable farmers to access credit at favorable terms to enable them to sustainably invest and expand agricultural production and consequently realize food security.