Poverty Status and Dietary Diversity Among Farming Households in Gassol, Taraba State, Nigeria

This study examined the relationship between poverty status and dietary diversity among farming household in Gassol, Taraba State, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select 120 households in the study area from whom data were collected. The data were analyzed using Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS); Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) Index; and Tobit regression model. The result of HDDS showed that 92% of the farming households had low dietary diversity while the FGT result showed that 70% of the farming households were poor. Tobit regression revealed that the coefficients of household size, farm size, household dietary diversity and income from sales of non-agricultural goods were negatively significant; however gender and marital status were positively significant. Based on this, it was established that there is a significant relationship between poverty status and HDDS. This relationship was such that the higher the level of poverty, the lower the dietary diversity of the farming households. This implies that the poorer a farming household is, the lesser their dietary diversity and nutritional intake. This could be attributed to the minimal profit margin obtain by farmers owing to the fact that they mostly sell their farm produce immediately after harvest. Consequent upon this, they remain impoverished and unable to feed well. It is therefore recommended that the shelve lives of these agricultural produce should be enhanced through research. There is also need for the farmers to be educated on the importance of balance diet. Finally, they should be supported with nutritional supplements to improve their health status and consequently their poverty status. Keywords: Poverty, dietary, diversity, farming, households, Gassol DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-2-12 Publication date: January 31st 202