Do floods affect food security? A before-and-after comparative study of flood-affected households’ food security status in South-Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract A comparative study of pre- and post-flood households’ food security statuses in South-Eastern Nigeria was performed to answer the question “Do floods affect food security?” Data were generated via a survey of 400 households in eight communities using stratified and random sampling methods. Households’ food security statuses were assessed using the Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) and computed using a Rasch analysis, where households were divided into four categories, namely: food secure, food insecure without hunger, moderately food insecure with hunger and severely food insecure with hunger. The results show that flooding affects food security negatively by increasing the number of food insecure households to 92.8%, and the regression coefficient of −0.798 indicates a very strong negative effect of flooding on household food security. An odds ratio of 2.221 implies that households that have experienced flooding are 2.221 times more probable to be food insecure than households that have not. The implication of the findings is that flooding is capable of turning communities into food insecurity hotspots that would need long-term assistance to cope, and flooding is capable of hampering the achievement of Goal 2 of the SDGs.