CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Food is any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth, etc. It is an indispensible perquisite for the survival of mankind and its economic activities including food production. For food security to exist at the national, regional and local levels, food must be available accessible and properly utilized. It is a basic necessity of life. Food is regarded as the basic means of sustenance, and an adequate food intake in terms of quantity and quality, is a key, for healthy and productive life (FAO, 2005). It is perhaps the most important commodity linking rural producers and urban consumers (Rengasamy et al. 2003). Food accounts for a substantial part of the typical Nigerian household budget. Various foods serve as important vehicles for taking nutrients into the body and bringing about a healthy state, hence the need for taken, there classes, of essential nutrients, which must be combined in appropriate proportion to ensure an adequate food intake. These include: carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oil, vitamins and minerals (Omonona, Agoi and Adetokunbo, 2007). The need for food is topmost in the hierarchy of needs as it is essential for healthy living. Thus, achievement of food security is important in any given country.
Africa with its vast land area covering 3 billion ha has 1.3 billion ha of agricultural land out of which only 252 million ha (19.36%) is arable (FAO, 2011). Africa is the center of origin and also a major producer of several cereals like sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet, teff, African rice and maize. Maize has overtaken these traditional cereals. In Africa, it is grown over an area of 34.08 million ha producing 70.08 million tons (FAO, 2015). Maize is a major staple crop in diverse agro-ecological zones and farming systems, and consumed by people with varying food preferences and socio-economic backgrounds. Of the 22 countries in the world where maize forms the highest percentage of calorie intake in the national diet, are in Africa. Maize accounts for almost
The final report of the 1996 World Food Summit states that food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active healthy life.It is a condition related to the supply of food, and individuals’ access to it.A farming household is therefore, adjudged food secure when the trio of food availability, food accessibility and food affordability is guaranteed in the required quantity and quality (World Bank, 2001). At the 1974 World Food Conference the term “food security” was defined with emphasis on supply. Food security, they said, is the “availability at times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices”.  It is also a situation that exists when all the people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary food preferences for an active and healthy life (UNFAO, 2001).
The WHO states that there are three pillars that determine food security: food availability, food access, and food use. The FAO adds a fourth pillar: the stability of the first three dimension of food security over time. In 2009, the world summit on Food Security stated that the “four pillars of food security are availability, access, utilization and stability.