Effect of Rising Food Prices on Food Security among Agricultural Education Students in the University of Benin, Nigeria

Background and Objective: Rising food prices have been a serious challenge in Nigeria recently, and this has negatively affected food security in almost every household, including university students. This study investigated the effect of rising food prices on food security among Agricultural Education Students at the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled Food Security Among Agricultural Education Students Questionnaire (FSAAESQ). The instrument was validated by three experts, and a reliability test was carried out using Cronbach’s Alpha, which yielded a coefficient of 0.81. The instruments were administered to the respondents who were randomly selected and used for the study, and the data collected were analyzed using weighted Mean and Standard deviation at a 0.05 significance level. Results: The findings of the study revealed the level of food security among the students, which includes not having sufficient food, skipping food, not having access to sufficient food, and buying cheaper food. Changes in food prices caused the students to change shopping habits and frequency, seeking aid and borrowing foodstuffs while coping strategies adopted by them include bulk buying of food, reduction in quantity of food consumed, doing multiple jobs for extra income, and reducing spending on other necessities. The study also found that some interventions, such as subsidizing food, cultivating food, budgeting, giving financial support, and establishing cooperatives for students to buy food at a lower rate can help to mitigate the challenges. Conclusion: The Government and the management of universities should implement some of the interventions in this study such as subsidizing food for students, giving financial supports to students for food purpose, teaching students production skills in crop and animal production and engaging them in cultivation of school gardens to boost food security on campus amongst others.