Consumer cooperatives, food security and the sustainability of civil servants in urban cities of Ondo State, Nigeria

The issues of food security and family sustenance have been a major problem in recent times. A large number of the urban populace has not been able to provide the food need of their family. Due to urban expansion, there is limited or no land for subsistence farming. The few that have the opportunity withdrew due to pilfering and competing time for office work, home and the farm. In order to deal with the crisis, civil servants formed cooperative societies which engaged in the bulk purchase of food items for the co-operators. The bill of food items purchased serves as loans which were deducted from their salaries. The study examines the effectiveness of cooperative societies in ensuring household food security and sustainability of civil servants in urban cities of Ondo state. A total of 180 civil servants were randomly selected and interviewed for the study. Findings show that majority 48.33% of the respondents patronize the consumer cooperative societies monthly to purchase the food need of the family, while 32.78% patronize the societies quarterly. The most important reason for patronizing being getting cheaper food prices than the market price and the ease of payment. Some at the end of the month, after all deductions made from their salaries, rarely have something to take home but believe in a Yoruba adage which says Tebi bati kuro ninu ise, ise buse' literarily meaning that when hunger is out of poverty, then poverty is drastically reduced. Result of the probit model reveals a significant relationship between consumers' cooperatives and household food security, a positive significant relationship between educational status, income and food security. However, there is a negative relationship between family size and food security, indicating that the higher the family size, the greater the level of food insecurity.