The impact of credit access and cooperative membership on food security of rural households in southwestern Nigeria

This study investigated the impact of credit access and cooperative membership on food security of rural households in south-western Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select 300 rural households for the study. Data were analysed using a food security index, binary logit model, propensity score matching (PSM) and augmented inverse-probability weighting model (AIPW). The binary logit estimates revealed that age, household size, years of education, farm size, farm income and non-farm income significantly influenced the likelihood of rural households being members of cooperatives while household size, years of education, farm size, gender, household assets and farm income significantly influenced the likelihood of rural households’ access to credit. The food security index revealed that 66% of households were food insecure. PSM revealed that cooperative membership and credit access are expected to increase the food security of rural households by approximately 1,446 and 1,496 kilocalories per person per day, respectively. AIPW revealed that cooperative membership and credit access are expected to increase the food security of rural households by approximately 1,888 and 1,899 kilocalories per person per day, respectively. The study concluded that both credit access and cooperative membership have a positive and significant impact on food security of rural households. Thus, any programmes targeted at ensuring rural households’ food security, particularly in south-western Nigeria, should take cognisance of their credit access and cooperative membership.