FOOD CULTURE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON FOOD SECURITY: AN INFERENTIAL SURVEY ON EKOWE COMMUNITY IN BAYELSA STATE, NIGERIA
Akwapoly Journal of Communication and Scientific Research (APJOCASR)
Keywords:
Food culture, food security, food insecurity, food habit, nutritional culture.Abstract
This study aims to assess the impact of food culture on food security, focusing on the Ekowe community, a coastal region located along the River Nun in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Being one of Nigeria's most severely affected communities during the ongoing floods, the Ekowe community is a critical food security research area. The study employs focus group discussions, personal interviews, and survey questionnaires for qualitative data collection. The questionnaire survey involves sixty respondents, of which fifty-six (56) responses are deemed appropriate, while descriptive statistics are used to analyze data. The results reveal plantain, cassava, sugar cane, cocoyam, rice, and beans as the major food categories prevalent in the study area. Moreover, the study identifies food price instability, limited food supply in the market, poverty, family size, and ignorance of basic nutritional requirements as the major factors affecting the food culture of the Ekowe community. Poor food culture and food insecurity lead to malnutrition, undernourishment, ill health, hunger, susceptibility to diseases, crime, low self-esteem, and death. The majority (73.2%) of the respondents cannot afford to feed consistently three times daily for one month, indicating poverty and low purchasing power among people in the study area. Furthermore, 71.4% of the respondents do not consume a balanced diet daily, suggesting that a significant proportion of the population may be malnourished and suffer from nutritional inequality, which indicates food insecurity. The study finds that young people between the ages of 20 and 40 years, males, and people earning less than 35,000 Naira per month are the main respondents who consume less than three meals daily. The researchers attempt to construct a food culture and security profile to illustrate the relationship between food culture and security. The study recommends improving local food production and nutritional awareness to enhance food culture and security.
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