Factors Influencing Irrigation Technology Adoption and its Impact on Household Poverty in Ghana

The treadle pump technology was promoted and disseminated as an alternative to traditional rope and bucket for irrigation in Ghana by the International Non-Governmental Organization, Enterprise Works. The aim is to improve output, increase incomes and consequently reduce poverty among farm households. The paper employed the Heckman two-stage and the Ordinary Least Square procedures to identify the factors that influence adoption of the technology and the impact of adoption on the poverty status of farm households. Farm and household level data were obtained from 108 farmers consisting of 52 adopters and 58 non-adopters. The results demonstrated that availability of labor and increases in number of extension visits per year are factors that increase the probability of adoption. The results also showed that increase in irrigated area has the highest impact on poverty followed by adoption of treadle pump and literacy level of farmers

Determinants of Households’ Participation in the Collective Maintenance of Publicly Provided Water Infrastructure in Oyo State, Nigeria

The provision of safe drinking water has been a major concern of government over the decades and boreholes have been drilled in many rural areas in Nigeria. Despite this, the proportion of Nigerians in rural areas with access to safe drinking water is about 50%. This paper evaluates participation in collective maintenance of boreholes and factors that influence it in Oyo state. Through a multistage sampling procedure, 109 households were selected from 5 communities that have been provided with boreholes by the state Local Empowerment and Environmental Management Project. Data collected from these households were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the probit model. Results reveal that rural households participate well in collective maintenance with a greater number making financial contribution. Education of household head, reliability of water, and perception on transparency of management show plausibility of increasing the probability of participation in collective maintenance of boreholes. Distance from the water source, having alternative source of water, male household head, household monthly income and enforcement of rules reduces probability of participation. The marginal effects show that gender, distance to water, having alternative source of water, enforcement of rules and perception on transparency and accountability of management have the highest effect on probability of participation. It is recommended that adult education should be intensified and training of management team on management and administration be done. This is to engender trust and increase participation thereby improving maintenance of the boreholes

The decomposition of income inequality by sources of income: the rural Nigerian experience

The study examines income inequality by sources of income in Nigeria. A standard Gini decomposition method was applied on a nationally representative data to examine the differential impact of various types of income sources - including non-farm income - on inequality in rural Nigeria. The results revealed that agriculture accounts for the largest share of the total inequality, followed by wage income sources and self-employment contributes the least. It is evident that agriculture is inequality increasing, while wage and household self employments are inequality decreasing. African Journal of Economic Policy Vol. 11(1) 2004: 1-1

Measuring the effect of transaction costs for investment in irrigation pumps: Application of the unobserved stochastic threshold model to the case of Nigeria

This article empirically assesses the effect of unobserved transaction costs for Nigerian farmers when investing in irrigation pumps. The unobserved stochastic threshold (UST) model popularly used in labor economics literature is applied, and is compared with two models, the Tobit and the Heckman sample selection model, which are slightly more restrictive versions of the UST model. The results indicate that the unobserved transaction costs are higher for female farmers, landless farmers, those who have a comparatively high dependency ratio, and those who live far from town. The results suggest that the unobserved transaction costs can be as important as the factors determining the profitability of irrigation pumps, which emphasizes the importance of reducing transaction costs and providing the environment for higher returns from investment in irrigation. From a methodological perspective, the UST model is found to be more accurate and informative than the Tobit and Heckman models

Decomposition Analysis of Political Inequality among Rural Households in Nigeria

This study profiled and decomposed political inequality among rural households in Nigeria. Core welfare indicator questionnaire survey data conducted by National Bureau of Statistics in 2006 was used. The data was analyzed using Generalized Entropy and Shapley decomposition. Result revealed that 90.8% of the respondents have low participatory ratio in politics and decision making and the level of dispersion across the mean of the population share is 0.196. South East and North Central zone have the highest (0.217) and the least (0.195) level of dynamics. Shapley decomposition shows that political inequality is more as a result of dynamics within the various socio-economic groups contributing between 94.8% and 98.2% of the total political inequality. Furthermore, households that are headed by male, have household size consisting of 6-10 members, 31-60 years. Low level of participation in politics and decision making therefore calls for political reform by all stakeholders and development partners to remove violence, corruption and rigging from the political system and also to sensitize households on the importance of participation in politics and decision making in the policy formulation and implementation processes

Treadle pump irrigation and poverty in Ghana

Treadle pump (TP) technology has been promoted by Enterprise Works Worldwide (EWW) as an alternative to the traditional rope and bucket irrigation that is necessary to overcome the challenge of uncertain and inadequate rainfall for agricultural production. The aim is to improve output, increase incomes and reduce poverty among farm households. This study examines the strategies used for dissemination of the TP and the dynamics of its adoption and impacts, with a special focus on poverty reduction. The results of the study reveal that time and labor savings for irrigation, increased size of irrigated areas and lack of fuel requirements are the attractive features of the TP for those who adopt it. Adoption of TP increases land and labor productivities; and also net farm incomes. The study also demonstrates that adoption of the TP reduces poverty