HELPING PEASANT FARMERS IN NIGERIA THROUGH AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES: LESSONS FROM JAPAN AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE MODEL

Japan agricultural cooperative known as JA in Japan is the citadel of small farmers’ livelihoods. For almost 60 years, JA was the driving force behind small farmer-supportive policy in Japan. The reverse is the case in Nigeria where agricultural cooperatives are not tailored towards organized support; therefore Nigerian farmers face the brunt of the market, policy and economy. While there are emerging challenges for JA, its relevance remains undaunted in marketing, farm guidance, credit, insurance, and subsidy among others. The paper examines the need for adapting the JA agricultural cooperative model in Nigeria and the needed institutional contexts. Alleviating rural poverty in Nigeria requires building farmers capacity through cohesive farmers’ organizations that will act as channels for introducing agricultural technologies for production and processing, gaining access to quality inputs, credit and technology, reduce farm gate losses and enhance harmers access to market and generally improving their capacity for negotiating better deals in the political system and gaining more control over their socioeconomic position in the Nigerian social system. The JA model of agricultural cooperatives is a relevant case study to building an organization that would meet farmers’ needs and help in agricultural development. &nbsp

CONTRIBUTION OF FORMAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO CASSAVA PROCESSING IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

The study was carried out to assess the contribution of Formal Financial Institutions (FFIs) to income of cassava processors in Benue state, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 234 cassava processors from 18 communities in the state. Data on credit sources and uses, processing activities and income were collected using structured questionnaires. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while the impact of the credit was assessed using the before and after comparison. The result shows that about a third of the processors had access to formal credits. The Nigerian Agricultural Bank ranked highest (83%) in terms of patronage. Commercial and microfi-nance banks«¤?? lending to cassava processing represented about 12% and 5% respectively of the total credit received. Majority (70%) of the processors received less than N100, 000 per year; an average of N63,152, which is about 12% of total amount, required. Credit financing from formal financial institu-tions was found to have significant effects on both the output of garri and flour processed and the profit from garri, flour and chips«¤?? processing. The credit use structure shows that over 65% of the credit was use to increase processing scale, through increase in the purchase of raw tubers and payment for processing labour

CONTRIBUTION OF FORMAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO CASSAVA PROCESSING IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

The study was carried out to assess the contribution of Formal Financial Institutions (FFIs) to income of cassava processors in Benue state, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 234 cassava processors from 18 communities in the state. Data on credit sources and uses, processing activities and income were collected using structured questionnaires. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while the impact of the credit was assessed using the before and after comparison. The result shows that about a third of the processors had access to formal credits. The Nigerian agricultural bank ranked highest (83%) in terms of patronage. Commercial and microfinance banks’ lending to cassava processing represented about 12% and 5% respectively of the total credit received. Majority (70%) of the processors received less than N100, 000 per year; an average of N63,152, which is about 12% of total amount, required. Credit financing from formal financial institutions was found to have significant effects on both the output of garri and flour processed and the profit from garri, flour and chips’ processing. The credit use structure shows that over 65% of the credit was use to increase processing scale, through increase in the purchase of raw tubers and payment for processing labour

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOILS UNDER SAWAH SYSTEM OF INLAND VALLEYS IN NIGERIA

This study investigated the physico-chemical and geochemical properties of soils under sawah in Nigeria. It was found that soils under sawah were majorly sandy loam to sandy clay loam having acidic reactions, low exchangeable Ca, Mg, K and Na. These soils were deficient in available P, SiO2, S, Total Nitrogen and Total Carbon while SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 dominated total elemental composition, accounting for a cumulative average of 96.16%. Except total elemental TiO2 and K2O which showed average values >1%, MnO, MgO, CaO, Na2O and P2O5 showed average values <1%. Soils under sawah exhibited intermediated to extreme weathering degree with majority of the soil sampled falling into the category of extreme weathering. With extreme degree of weathering, rapid loss of mobile species such as basic cations from soil is imminent which may account for the results observed in this study. Thus, combination of conservative agricultural practices is recommended.   &nbsp