Gendered Spatial Vulnerability to Food Insecurity in Nigeria: Developing and Applying a Food Security Vulnerability Index

Abstract

This study develops a Food Security Vulnerability Index (FSV) to examine regional disparities in women's vulnerability to food insecurity in Nigeria. Using the 2018/2019 Nigeria General Household Survey (GHS) data, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to construct a composite index scaled from 0 to 1 and classified into five categories ranging from very low to very high vulnerability. The analysis covered 4,401 households, with descriptive statistics complemented by Moran's I to test for spatial autocorrelation. Results show that the mean FSV score was 0.302 (SD 0.172), with most households concentrated in very low (35.54%) and low (35.17%) vulnerability classes, while 22.86% fell in the moderate class, 6.23% in the high class, and 0.20% in the very high class. Female-headed households consistently displayed greater vulnerability than male-headed households, with 23.17% and 6.92% falling into moderate and high categories compared to 22.52% and 5.48% for men. Regional disparities were marked, as households in the South-South, South East, and South West exhibited higher vulnerability scores, with up to 46.33% in moderate and 15.73% in high categories, while the North East and North West recorded relatively lower vulnerability, partly due to external support interventions. Moran's I confirmed significant spatial clustering, rejecting the null hypothesis of no regional difference in women's vulnerability. The findings underscore that food insecurity in Nigeria is both gendered and spatially constituted, demanding spatially targeted, gender-sensitive policy responses.