Evaluation of Microcredit on Food Security Status in Kaduna, Nigeria : Evaluation Of UNDP Micro Credit Scheme On Food Security Status Of Farm Households In Kaduna, Nigeria

This study evaluated the impact of United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) micro credit scheme on the food security status of farm households in Ikara, Makarfi and Giwa Local Government Areas of Kaduna State, Nigeria. About 61 percent of beneficiaries of the micro credit scheme and 63 percent of non-beneficiaries were able to meet the daily recommended calorie intake of 2260 kcal per capita. Beneficiaries had more food insecure households (39%) than non-beneficiaries (37%). Determinants of food security status as obtained from Tobit regression analysis were farm size, access to UNDP credit, membership of cooperatives and diversification levels. The use of Propensity Score Matching showed that the UNDP micro credit scheme has no significant impact on the food security status of beneficiaries. The calculated Average impact of Treatment on the Treated (ATT) was negative (-60.68). Therefore, the UNDP micro credit scheme in the study area had not contributed significantly to the food security status of beneficiaries.