This study developed optimal food consumption plan for the rural households in Kwara State, Nigeria.
A two-stage simple random sampling technique was employed in collecting data used for the study
between October, 2005 and January, 2007. The main tools of analysis used in this study are the Food
Security Index and the Linear Goal Programming (LGP) Model. This study reveals that 65.45% of the
rural households are food insecure. Rice, maize, cowpea, gari, fish and palm oil consumed at 4.17,
18.59, 2.92, 2.66, 8.53 and 3.10 Kg per week respectively constituted the least-cost food plan for the
rural households. With an average household size of eight male adult equivalents, this plan has a cost
implication of N73.73 per person per day. This shows that the cost of meeting this least-cost food plan
was 38% lower than the one U.S. Dollar World Bank poverty line per person per day. This study
recommends the need for the rural households to be educated on the nutritional implication of the
consumption of various food items.