ABSTRACT

This study aimed to explore the accessibility of culturally relevant foods in households in urban area of Umuahia north local government area of Abia State. A total of 410 respondents were selected using a multi-stage random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-economic characteristics, culturally relevant foods among urban households and consumption pattern of the identified foods among urban households. The result ofthis research revealed that 38% ofthe respondents were between the ages of 31-40 years and more than half (57.1%) of the respondents were male and 42.9% were female. Most (62.4%) of the respondents were married and almost half (45.6%) of the respondents had tertiary education. About 36.6% of the respondents were husbands and almost half (45.4%) of the respondents earned 80,000 naira and above. Less than half (42.4%) of the respondents lived in the flat and majority of the respondents got their water from tap. Most (90.2%) of the respondents’ communities /town still observe certain traditions. A majority (84.9%) ofthe respondents still observe new yam festival and few observed Ekpe festival. A good number of the respondents consume local foods such as Ofe achara with akpuruakpu egusi, Ofe akwubanga soup, Ugba na anu, Achicha ede, Ji mmanu na utazi, Odudu, Ofe oha and Mkparusu at least once a week. More than half (52.9%) of the respondents were food secure, 33.2% were severely food insecure, 9.5% were moderate food insecure and 3.9% were mildly food insecure. More than half (56.8%) ofthe respondents consumed rice 2-3 times a week. Almost half (49.3%) ofthe respondents consumed Egusi once a week and less than half (42.7%) ofthe respondents consumed garri 2-3 times a week. Forty-Eight percent of the respondents consumed carrot once a week and more than half (55.9%) of the respondents consumed pumpkin leaves 2-3 times. About 45.4% of the respondents consumed water melon 2-3 times a week. About 46.6% of the respondents consumed beef daily and 36.8% of the respondents consumed fish once a week. More than half (52.7%) of the respondents consumed palm oil daily and less than half (40.7%) of the respondents consumed groundnut oil 2-3 times in a week. There was a relationship between the socio-demographic ofthe respondents and culturally relevant foods