Katsina’s new household survey shows wide gaps in food consumption, income and maternal healthcare, with poorer households and rural women recording worse outcomes across several indicators.
Nearly nine in 10 households in Katsina State consume only one to three varieties of food items daily, while six in 10 recent births occurred at home, according to a new government household survey that shows wide gaps by wealth and place of residence.
The findings are contained in the state’s General Household Survey 2025: Data for Development, which was publicly unveiled alongside new development, social protection, and nutrition policy documents at the Government House in Katsina on 20 August.
The survey covered all 34 local government areas and used a two-stage stratified sampling method. Of 10,426 households selected, 10,269 were interviewed, according to the report.
The government said the survey was intended to provide a baseline for planning, budgeting and targeting public interventions across the state.
Beyond that policy objective, however, the findings present a picture of households reporting limited food variety and substantial inequalities in income and access to maternal healthcare.
The survey found that 87.8 per cent of households consumed between one and three varieties of food items daily.
Another 10.9 per cent consumed between four and six varieties, while only 0.9 per cent reported seven to nine and 0.4 per cent consumed 10 or more.
The figures also varied substantially across wealth quintiles.
Among households in the poorest wealth quintile, 96.8 per cent consumed only one to three varieties of food items daily. The figure was 68.4 per cent even among households classified in the richest quintile.
The report’s food-security table also shows that 18.1 per cent of households said they always experienced food shortages, 16.1 per cent said they often did, 60.1 per cent reported experiencing shortages sometimes, while 5.9 per cent said they rarely did.
Only 13 per cent said they ate meals containing items such as meat, vegetables, beans, eggs or dairy products daily. Another 48.6 per cent reported doing so several times a week.
The findings come as the state government says it is increasing spending on nutrition.
In a speech delivered on his behalf by Deputy Governor Faruk Jobe, Governor Dikko Radda said the state had invested more than ₦1.7 billion in nutrition interventions and provided another ₦500 million as counterpart funding for programmes supported by development partners.
The speech did not provide a breakdown of the ₦1.7 billion expenditure or specify the period covered by the figure.
The survey puts average monthly household income at ₦66,420.
The Katsina State Bureau of Statistics subsequently clarified to PREMIUM TIMES that the income figures were self-reported by respondents and represented nominal monthly household income at the time of the survey, without adjustment for inflation.
The report puts the average monthly income at ₦74,392 for urban households and ₦65,222 for rural households.
The gap was wider across wealth quintiles.
Households in the poorest quintile reported an average monthly income of ₦34,210, compared with ₦124,905 among households in the richest quintile.
Agriculture remained the primary source of income for 46.9 per cent of households, followed by business at 29 per cent and salaries or wages at 11.2 per cent.
The gaps are also reflected in access to maternal healthcare.
Among women who had a live birth in the two years preceding the survey, 60.8 per cent delivered at home, while 38.3 per cent delivered in a health facility.
The rural-urban gap was substantial.
About 67.6 per cent of rural women delivered at home, compared with 42.8 per cent of urban women.
Facility delivery also varied sharply across wealth quintiles.
Only 23 per cent of women in the poorest wealth quintile delivered in a health facility, compared with 72.4 per cent among women in the richest quintile.
Education showed a similar pattern.
Facility delivery was 26.8 per cent among women with no education, 42.4 per cent among those with primary education and 65.1 per cent among women with secondary education or higher.
The inequalities were already visible during pregnancy.
