Food Sovereignty, Agricultural Biodiversity, and Nutritional Adequacy Among Indigenous Communities in Middle Belt Nigeria

Food sovereignty, the right of peoples to define their own food and agriculture systems, has been theorised as a pathway to dietary adequacy and cultural food security, yet empirical links between food sovereignty indicators, agricultural biodiversity, and nutritional outcomes among indigenous Nigerian communities have not been systematically examined. This study investigates the relationship between food sovereignty indicators, on-farm agricultural biodiversity, and nutritional adequacy among indigenous farming communities in Benue, Plateau, and Kogi States in Nigeria's Middle Belt region. A cross-sectional mixed-methods design was used across 20 communities and 600 households. Food sovereignty was operationalised across five dimensions: local food production, access to land and genetic resources, community seed systems, decision-making autonomy in food systems, and knowledge sovereignty. Agricultural biodiversity was assessed through household crop and livestock diversity inventories, a species richness index, and agrobiodiversity scores aligned with the Agrobiodiversity Index. Dietary adequacy was assessed using the Dietary Reference Intake probability adequacy method based on three-day 24-hour recalls. Multiple linear regression examined associations between food sovereignty scores and dietary adequacy after adjustment for household income, market access, and rainfall variability. Qualitative ethnographic analysis explored how historical, ecological, and political processes shaped food sovereignty erosion in specific communities. Findings will produce an original empirical examination of the food sovereignty-nutrition relationship in a Nigerian indigenous context, informing the integration of food sovereignty principles into national nutrition and agricultural policy frameworks. Keywords: food sovereignty, agricultural biodiversity, nutritional adequacy, indigenous communities, Middle Belt Nigeria.