The Impact of Backyard Vegetable Gardening on Food Security of Urban and Suburban Communities In Pankshin LGA

As global populations surge and urbanization accelerates, concerns regarding food security and nutritional health intensify. In response to these challenges, the practice of backyard fruit and vegetable gardening has emerged as a potential solution. This study aims to systematically investigate the impact of backyard vegetable gardening on food security and nutritional health in urban and suburban communities in Pankshin LGA. Three (3) research questions were raised and analyzed. Survey research was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised four hundred and fifty (450) residents of both urban and suburban households aged 18 years and above. A sample size of two hundred and fifty (250) respondents were selected from the population. Sample techniques were used to select five communities from the study area. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire with a total of 15 items tittle, “Vegetable Garden and Food Security Questionnaire”, (VGFSQ). Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The result showed high price of Fresh produce can lead to food insecurity with the mean value of 4.09, the finding on the extreme climate change can lead to poor yield of fresh produce with the mean 3.35 and 3.17 respectively. Farmers use of chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer promote vegetation gardening (3.97), illiteracy among households are barriers to the cultivation of vegetable (3.51) limited resources of households lead to poor vegetation gardening (3.77). it was concluded that adequate knowledge and right attitude toward vegetable gardening are essential for farming survival, food security and sustainability in Pankshin LGA of Plateau State. Thus, it was recommended that households should imbibe the right attitude toward the use of natural resources such as land, air and water to practice vegetable gardening.