Factors Influencing Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Nigeria Processed Chicken in Kwara State

Despite the ban on importation of frozen poultry products in Nigeria, about 1.2 million tonnes unwholesome products are been smuggled into the country annually. This practice is impacting negatively on the health of the citizenry and local producers continue to face daunting obstacles posed by activities of smugglers. This study analyzed the factors influencing urban households’ Willingness To Pay (WTP) for Nigeria Processed Chicken (NPC) in Kwara State. Data used for the study were obtained from 274 respondents using the multi-stage sampling techniques. They were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Probit regression. From the study, it is seen that the majority of the respondents (54.7%) were fairly educated with mean year of schooling of 12.97. About 34.7% and 13.9% of the respondents had below N50,000 and above N200,000 respectively as their total monthly income. The result indicates that over 80% of the respondents claimed that NPC was not readily available while the mean distance to sales outlets stood at 3.21 km. The probit estimation of willingness to pay increased significantly with education and income and decrease with distance to sales outlets. It was recommended that policies that will enhance respondents’ purchasing power should be pursued in order to encourage them to pay for Nigeria processed chicken. Also, the creation of more sales outlets for NPC should be considered

Gender Dimensions of Time Allocation of Rural Farming Households in Southwest Nigeria

This study examines how farmers in rural areas of southwest Nigeria allocate their time to various activities. A time use survey was carried out among 150 farming households with 300 respondents (150 males and 150 females) during rainy and dry seasons. The time use data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation. The analysis shows that there are basically three main activity sectors within the rural households namely: farming activity sector, non-farming activity sector and household activity sector. Leisure time of rural farmers is treated as residual. Time allocation to these sectors differs by gender and season of the year. Male allocated more time to farming and non-farming activity sectors than female during the two seasons whereas female allocated more time to household activities than male at all times. Farming and non-farming activity sectors are monetized whereas household sector is not monetized. In all, female allocated more time to work activities hence lesser leisure time than male. The two gender allocated more time to farming activity sector during rainy season than dry season. Female allocated more time to work during dry season than rainy season, whereas male consumed more leisure during dry season than rainy season. Based on the findings, it was recommended that time allocation intervention aiming at reducing the time allocation to household activity without living the sector to suffer be gender and season sensitive

What are the Drivers of Profitability of Broiler Farms in the North-central and South-west Geo-political Zones of Nigeria?

This study analyzed the drivers of the profitability of broiler farms in the north-central and south-west geo-political zones of Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to choose a representative sample. A pre-tested, structured questionnaire was employed to gather cross-sectional data from 645 respondents between November 2017 and February 2018 for 2017 production year by trained enumerators. The data were analyzed with budgetary model, descriptive and inferential statistics. The results show that feed constitute about 75% of the total variable cost of producing 1 kg of the broiler. The cost implication of producing 1 kg of broiler stood at ₦583.20, while revenue realized from the sales of the same quantity of broiler was ₦734.69. The study further revealed that broiler farming is a profitable enterprise with profitability index of 39.85%. Furthermore, the positive drivers of profitability of broiler farms are years of experience of farmers, flock size, other means of livelihood, process broiler, and membership of the poultry association of Nigeria (PAN). Types of feed used and access to credit had a negative effect on the profitability of broiler farms. There will be a need to motivate farmers to increase their flock sizes by subsidizing high-quality day-old chicks, feed, and feed ingredients as well as other facilities. Research efforts should also focus on the development of efficient locally-made processing facilities to improve on the value addition activities of farmers thereby increasing the profitability of the farms. The enforcement of the policy on credit provision to farmers at a reasonable interest rate by commercial banks becomes crucial. In addition, it is suggested that farmers be encouraged to join PAN to increase the profitability of broiler farms

Determinants of malnutrition of under-five children among rural households in the southwest, Nigeria

Malnutrition has been attributed to many deaths among under-five children in most of the developing countries including Nigeria. Understanding the determinants of malnutrition can provide insights in designing interventions for reducing the high rates of child malnutrition. This study focused on what determines the malnutrition of under-five children among rural households in the southwest, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select 395 households that had 487 under-five children. Data were collected on child’s, mother’s, household’s and community characteristics using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Information on the child’s nutrition status was obtained using Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) tape. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logit model with STATA 14 statistical package. The results revealed that the average age of under-five children was about 25 months and over 50% of them are girls with a malnutrition rate of 44.0%. The child’s sex, the child’s birth interval, cultivated farm size, mother’s education, water source, and distance to nearest health center significantly determined the child’s malnutrition in rural areas of southwest Nigeria. Given the findings of this research, it is suggested that; mothers should be advised to use contraceptives for child spacing; farmers should be enlightened on the need to implement modern farming practices that lead to optimum yield per land cultivated rather than increasing the size of cultivated farmland; there should be an improvement on women’s education as well as a potable water source; and health care facilities close to respondents’ residence should be provided

Willingness to Accept Incentives for a Shift to Climate-Smart Agriculture among Smallholder Farmers in Nigeria

We used choice experiment data collected from 542 farmers in Nigeria to assess smallholders’ preferences for shifting to Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA). Results suggest that the higher the size of the incentive, the more the likelihood of farmers’ willingness to invest in CSA schemes. Similarly, the farmers were in favor of community development associations and non-governmental organizations-managed schemes over other project managements and also prefer government-based institutions as opposed to the private sector. Willingness to accept results suggest that an average farmer is willing to accept $540/ha/year and$386/ha/year to embrace good agricultural practices (GAPs) with and without manure application

Women empowerment, Land Tenure and Property Rights, and household food security among smallholders in Nigeria

Background: Empowering women, land tilting to enhance the security of Land Tenure and Property Rights (LTPRs) in agriculture vis-a-vis food and nutrition security are crucial in the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals. The main goal of this paper is to examine the crucial roles of women’s empowerment and LTPRs as they afect household food security among smallholder farmers in Nigeria. Methodology: Cross-sectional data were obtained from 1152 maize and rice farmers, selected by multistage ran�dom sampling across 192 communities, 16 States and the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. The data were collected on households’ socio-economics, food security situations, empowerment and LTPRs on parcels cultivated during the 2016/17 farming season by interviewing the adult members of the farmers’ households. HFS was assessed using the United States Department of Agriculture’ HFS Survey Module and Food and Agriculture Organization guidelines for measuring Household Dietary Diversity Score. LTPRs were measured in terms of tenure type and title registration to farmlands. HFS modelling was within the framework of Poisson, Instrumental Variable Poisson (IVP) and Zero-infated Poisson (ZIP) regression methods, with endogeneity concerns and choice of specifcation addressed within Hausman specifcation tests. Results: The results of the study show that households that have a share of farmland on purchase and also partici�pate in of-farm activities are likely to be certainly food-secure in all regards. Crop diversity, households that cultivate maize only, the share of farmland on purchase and access to extension contact signifcantly reduce the severity of food insecurity while an increase in farm size increases the severity of food insecurity. Similarly, IV Poisson and ZIP Count results show that increase in the farm size results in the severity of food insecurity. The evidence with respect to women’s empowerment reveals that gender parity and female achievement in group membership, income control, as well as workload; reduce the extent of food insecurity among the farming households in Nigeria. We, however, discover that female achievement in the productive decision and credit increases the severity of food insecurity among the smallholder farmers. The analyses also reveal that the education of the household head, female achievement in the asset; group membership, and workload are the major factors that positively influenced household dietary diversity

Effects of Climate Change on the Health of Rural Farming Households in Oyun Local Government Area, of Kwara State Nigeria

This study examined the impacts of climate change on the health of rural family households in Kwara State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 120 farmers for the study. The data collected through structured questionnaires and interview schedules was analyzed using mean, percentages, and Chi-Square. The findings revealed that the common effect of climate change on health is heat stress (M =4.1), malaria (M=3.76), depression (M=3.43), hunger (M=3.37), and death (M=2.88). Moreover, the coping strategies to ameliorate the effect of climate change were good medical care (16.7%), personal hygiene (25.0%), proper sanitation (13.3%), planting of trees to replace felled trees (16.7%), and prayer to God (6.7%). The major constraints to adaptation were lack of information and credit. Respondents’ age (x2= 10.50. ) and educational status (x2= 14.97) were positively significant factors determining the adaptation strategies' choice. The study, therefore, recommends that free health care facilities should be given to farmers while extension services should help in increasing the awareness campaign on the best method to cope with the effects of climate change. Keywords: Climate change coping strategies, health, farmer

Evaluation of Technical Efficiency of Broiler Farms in Nigeria

The poultry industry of which broiler farming is an aspect, is the largest of the livestock sub-sector. Despite this, the industry is characterized by a high level of inefficiency. The focus of this research is on the technical efficiency of broiler farms in Nigeria. Data was collected from 646 respondents with the aid of a questionnaire and analysed with descriptive statistics and Stochastic Frontier Production Function (SFPF) -Cobb-Douglas functional form. Results showed that technical efficiency ranged from 11- 98% with a mean of 67%. The quantity of feed and labour positively influenced broiler output, costs of drugs and vaccines negatively influenced it. Factors that had an indirect influence on the level of technical inefficiency of farms are education, training, access to credit, and other means of livelihood. The sex of the farmer had a direct association with the farm’s level of technical inefficiency. Our findings strongly suggest that to increase broiler farm efficiency, feed, and labor should be adequately utilized, while bio-security measures to reduce expenses on drugs and vaccines should be promoted among broiler farmers. Also, policies that will see to adequate training of farmers and improvement in their level of access to credits should be put in place

Survey data on land tenure and food security among farming households in northern Nigeria

This dataset presents data collected from the households’ survey in Northern Nigeria to examine land tenure and prop�erty rights among smallholder rice farmers and the influence it has on household food security. Data collection was by personal interviews of adult members of the farmers’ house�holds, focusing on the households’ socio-economics, United States Department of Agriculture’- 18 Household Food Secu�rity questions for households with children, land titling sta�tus and land tenure type on farmland cultivated during the 2016/17 farming season. The data were collected from 475 rice farmers selected by multistage sampling across 84 rice�growing communities, seven States and the three geopoliti�cal zones in northern Nigeria. Household food security was assessed within the framework of the United States Depart�ment of Agriculture’ HFS Survey Module. Land Tenure and Property Rights (LTPRs) assessment was in terms of the type (source) and registration of titles to farmlands. The hypothe�sis that guided the cross-sectional survey conducted to gen�erate these data is that insecure land tenure and property rights are important drivers of food insecurity

Influence of membership of cooperative society on farmers’ income in rural areas of Kwara State

: Smallholder farmers with small farm sizes, low input utilization, and poor access to effective post-harvest technology are known for low income. These challenges led to the emergence of special programs and social organizations, the most common of which is cooperative society. Yet, little is known about the effect of membership of cooperative society on farmers’ income. Hence, this study examined the influence of membership of cooperative society on farmers’ income in Kwara State, Nigeria. Primary data collected between February and March, 2015 from 191 household heads were used for this study and were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that the mean income of farmers who were members of cooperative society, non-members of cooperative society and control group were ₦15,090±₦3,828, ₦17,686±₦18,306 and ₦11,020±₦2,378 respectively. The results of Kruskal Wallis statistic and the asymptotic significant probability, JonckeereTerpstra test for significance of the mean incomes for the various categories of farmers were significant at 1% level. The results of ANOVA test also indicated the existence of significant difference between the means of the income levels of the three categories of farmers at the 1% level. The results of the Post Hoc test for differences/equality among the various categories revealed that the average income of the control category differs greatly from those of the non-cooperative and cooperative groups but there is no significant difference between the mean income of the cooperative farmers and that of the non�cooperative farmers. Thus, membership of cooperative society had positive effect on farmers’ income in the study area. Based on this, increasing awareness and information about cooperative societies among farmers in the study area becomes imperativ