AGRICULTURAL REFORMS AND THE CHALLENGES OF FOOD SECURITY IN NASARAWA STATE NIGERIA, 1999-2015

One cardinal aim of every government is to improve the living standard of its citizens through the reduction of food insecurity to its bearest minimum. It is against this background that this research work set out to examine and evaluate the performance of the agricultural reform policy as a tool to reduce the menace of food insecurity in Nasarawa state. The key objective of the research is to examine the impact of Agricultural Reform Programmes on the challenges of food Security in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The method utilized for this investigation is basically survey method. Data were generated from questionnaires and interviews, and they were also analyze using qualitative and quantitative methods, while elite theory of welfare and state outcome was adopted for the analysis. The findings revealed that the inputs distribution, food preservations and storage facilities, these result have been sustainable that the government efforts aimed at addressing food security issues have yielded some positive results. However, owing largely to rapid growth in population and ineffectiveness and poor management of the input distribution, which the study suggests the need to improve the food preservation and storage facilities, inputs distribution, in order to reduce the problem of food scarcity on the target population in Nasarawa state. In specific terms, government must pay attention to providing the sector with more modern farming implements and techniques to enable it yield more in quantity and quality. Also, subsidies should be granted to farmers particularly in the areas of crop production for the sustenance of food crop production.