The challenges posed by risk factors in agricultural production have been an issue of general concern
among various stake holders in the agro-industry. This concern is attributable to the negative impacts of risk on
agricultural productivity as well as on food security at various levels. This study was conceptualized to assess
risks and its management practices among smallholder farmers in Ebonyi State as well as the implications for
food security in Nigeria. The methodology involved the sampling of 240 smallholder farmers who supplied the
primary data used in the study. Result showed the sources of risk encountered by the farmers as inadequate
finance (100%), pest attacks (97%), input acquisition problems (93%) and crop and animal diseases (90%)
among others. Furthermore, 100%, 83%, 79%, 75% and 71% of the farmers identified flexibility in farm
operations, use of fertilizer, membership of self-help organizations, adoption of improved crop varieties and
speculative produce storage respectively as some of the major strategies utilized in managing risks in their
agricultural production. Then the constraints militating against the effective management of risks among the
respondents included among others; lack of access to improved farming technologies (95%), high cost of
improved technologies (93%), lack of access to weather information (91%) and lack of finance (82%). Finally
some implications for national food security were drawn from the overall result of the study. It was suggested
among other things that interest free credit should be made available to the small scale farmers to enable them
to access improved risk management technologies. This will help them to contribute more meaningfully to
national food security through enhanced productivity.