ABSTRACT An assessment of the sustainability of food crop production in the fadamas of southern guinea savanna of Niger State, Nigeria was carried out within the framework of small-scale farming households utilizing fadama for the cultivation of food crops. The study identified the pattern of land use and management, estimated technical efficiency, identified determinants of technical inefficiency and determined productivity and profitability of food crop production in the fadama. It also de...
ABSTRACT This study assesses the effect of income diversification of rice farmers on household food security in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region of Ghana. By income diversification, the study implies the different combination of activities that rice farmers indulge in to earn income. Information on personal as well as household characteristics was obtained from 204 rice farmers in the North Tongu District by the use of semi-structured questionnaires. Depending on their income port...
Abstract The Nigerian economy over the past few years grew at one of the highest rates in Africa. Yet, this growth has not led to substantial reduction in inequality and poverty, particularly in the rural sector. This was partly attributed to redistributional problem of national wealth which has not been adequately investigated. Therefore, the study assessed the contribution of growth and wealth distribution to poverty reduction in rural Nigeria from 1996 to 2004. Data from the National Cons...
ABSTRACT Adoption of yield increasing technologies among farming households is one way of reducing poverty and food insecurity. In Nigeria, Root and Tuber Expansion Programme (RTEP) was implemented to develop improved technology of root and tuber crops. However, the impact of RTEP technology on poverty and food security has not been fully established. Therefore, the effect of RTEP technology on poverty and food security status of cassava-farming households in southwestern Nigeria was investi...
ABSTRACT Grain marketing requires considerable investment of fund but traders are often plagued with inadequate capital to run their enterprises. The inadequacy of fund prevents traders from expanding their businesses resulting in low profit margin. However, social capital is increasingly recognised as a bridge for the gap in credit availability which can help in business expansion and profitability. There is little empirical evidence on the extent of the effectiveness of social capital and ...
ABSTRACT Social capital is trust and willingness to live by the norms of one’s associates. This household welfare asset has the potential to break the poverty cycle. However, there is little evidence on gender sensitivity of the effect of social capital on welfare status in Nigeria. Hence, gender dimension of social capital and its effects on rural household welfare in Osun and Ondo states, Nigeria were investigated. A multistage random sampling technique was employed for the study. Osun a...
ABSTRACT Inconsistent trade policies have characterised Nigeria’s rice importation, leading to planning and decision-making challenges for producers and consumers, and with fluctuating consequences on welfare status. However, studies on Rice Trade Policy (RTP) have been carried out within the partial equilibrium framework which do not reveal the welfare effects on all sectors and households in the economy. For effective RTP, an understanding of the economy-wide welfare effects is necessary...
ABSTRACT There have been investments in the infant food sector in Ghana in recent times. This is as a result of the introduction of cereal foods fortified appropriately for children aged five and below aimed at eradicating or reducing malnutrition. However, competition from transnational and multinational companies with branded and certified products is hindering progress of local companies in the sector. This study seeks to assess local processors’ willingness to pay (WTP) for product qual...
ABSTRACT The study was conducted to analyse production risk and technical efficiency of lowland rice farms in Ashanti region using adjusted stochastic production frontier. Cross sectional data for 2014 cropping season was collected from 200 sampled rice farms using multistage sampling technique. The results of the study revealed very low utilization of improved seed (42.8 kg/ha) by famers as against the standard quantity of 100kg/ha. Among the farm inputs used, fertilizer and improved seed we...
ABSTRACT The negative effect of Climate Change (CC) on agriculture across Africa has been well established. This underscores its global policy interest. In Nigeria, crop farming is climate dependent and farmholders often employ measures that are sub-optimal against climate risk. This raises the vulnerability of farming to CC uncertainty. For a long time, knowledge of CC perception by farmholders dominated the existing literature. However, information on economic estimates of damages and resp...
ABSTRACT Nigeria ranks fifth in world plantain production but has low export volume. The low export may be a result of activities along its value chain. However there is little information on the number of employment generated, comparative advantage, competitiveness and effects of policies on plantain. Therefore, the competitiveness of plantain along the value chain in southwestern Nigeria was investigated. A three stage sampling procedure was used. The ten high plantain producing Local Gov...
ABSTRACT This study assessed rice farmers’ perception of climate change and adaptation strategies towards tackling the challenges climate change poses to the rice farmers in Ketu North District, Volta Region of Ghana. The multistage sampling technique was used to obtain a sample size of 340 rice farmers from six (6) farming sections and a structured questionnaire was used to elicit data from the respondents. The data collected from the rice farmers were analyzed using descriptive statistic...
ABSTRACT The study was conducted to analyse production risk and technical efficiency of lowland rice farms in Ashanti region using adjusted stochastic production frontier. Cross sectional data for 2014 cropping season was collected from 200 sampled rice farms using multistage sampling technique. The results of the study revealed very low utilization of improved seed (42.8 kg/ha) by famers as against the standard quantity of 100kg/ha. Among the farm inputs used, fertilizer and improved ...
ABSTRACT Inequality is an important factor in understanding the welfare of rural households. Most discussions on inequality have focused primarily on income to the exclusion of non-income dimensions such as skills, education, political participation, health and life expectancy. Knowledge of non-income inequality will enhance the understanding of the key welfare attributes of Rural Households (RHs). The extent of and factors affecting non-income inequality among households in rural Nigeria we...
ABSTRACT The effectiveness of health insurance and women’s autonomy in removing barriers to the utilisation of maternal healthcare in order to curb maternal mortality especially in developing countries is gaining ground. However, in assessing the effects of health insurance on choice of delivery facilities, studies either put all facility-based delivery services together and compare with home care or fail to address endogeneity problem. Moreover, the connections among health insurance, auto...