ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Land, Livelihoods and Food Security
Rural Non-Agricultural Employment: Implications on Food and Nutrition Security among Youth Households in Nigeria
Provisionally accepted
- Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, South Africa
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Food and nutrition security remain critical challenges for rural youth households in Nigeria, where agriculture is the predominant livelihood activity but is often constrained by seasonal variability and limited production capacity. Non-agricultural income offers an alternative source of livelihood that may enhance household dietary quality and food security. This study employs the endogenous treatment regression to investigate the causal impact of non-agricultural employment on food and nutrition security among youth-headed households in rural Nigeria. The findings show that participation in non-agricultural employment significantly improves food and nutrition security, suggesting that non-farm income plays a vital role in improving both the quality and quantity of food consumption among rural youth households. These results inform policy aimed at scaling inclusive rural non-farm employment opportunities to ensure food and nutrition security among Nigeria's growing youth population.
Keywords: Non-agricultural employment, Youth, Food and nutrition security, Endogenous treatment regression, Rural Nigeria
Received: 26 Aug 2025; Accepted: 21 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bello Ph.D.. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lateef Olalekan Olalekan Bello Ph.D., latbellolamilekan@gmail.com
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