THE NIGERIAN AGRICULTURE AND POVERTY INCIDENCE: THE NEED FOR PRIVATE SECTOR EMPOWERMENT

Poverty in Nigeria is concentrated in rural areas. Low resource or resource-poor farmers characterized by preponderance of small farm units, fragile soils, rain-dependent, minimum inputs and poor yield dominate the agricultural sector. The incidence of poverty is highest among households in which the head is engaged in agriculture as the main source of income. Agricultural growth is therefore important to the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger in Nigeria. Conscious policy efforts by government towards poverty alleviation began during the SAP era. Some companies like Shell and certain State Governments have shown real interest in alleviating poverty through their agricultural programmes and policy statements. Nigeria’s current vision for agricultural development is expressed in the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), the New Agricultural Policy (NAP), and the Rural Sector Development Strategy (RSDS). This paper posits that provision of electricity, potable water, health centres and formal schools will facilitate the sustainability of any impact of poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria. Encouraging community development projects evolved by the communities themselves will minimize poverty incidence. Increasing the access of the poor to land and other productive resources will reduce poverty and generate employment. Development of infrastructural facilities in the rural areas has the two pronged approach of reducing poverty and developing the rural areas. Encouraging processing through adequate incentives to SMEs will also further empower the private sector.Farm Management, Food Security and Poverty,

ASSESSMENT OF THE USE OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT) ON THE ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF AGRO-BASED FOOD INDUSTRIES IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

The use of Information Communication technologies (ICTs) as a management tool has gained widespread significance in recent years and the stock of management advantages provided by ICT cuts across disciplines and sectors. Management experts see this globalization of management options as the “super production and marketing input” needed by firms to boost their competitive edge. This paper assesses the adoption and use of ICTs on the economic performance of Agro-industries (ABFIs) in South-West, Nigeria. Primary data were collected from a total of 80 respondents from the study area. Budgetary analysis, t-test of mean differences and multiple regressions were used in the data analysis to actualise the study objectives. In assessing the effect of ICTs on the economic performance of the companies, the “before and after” scenarios were analysed. The results revealed an increase of about 14 percent increase in total profit after adoption of ICTs. The reduction in marketing cost brought about by adopting ICT s were found to be largely responsible for the increase in profit of the ICT adopting firms. The results also revealed that irrespective of the scale of operation, there was a general reduction in total marketing cost due to ICT adoption. The Cobb Douglas function fitted to explain the cost effect relationship between yearly firms’ expenditure on ICTs and firm’s characteristics revealed that the proportion of ICT literate staff to the total staff strength and age of firm were found to be significant positive determinants of ICTs expenditure. The study recommends the adoption and use of ICTs by agro-based firms as a cutting edge input that is not only cost effective but more efficient in the long run.Agribusiness,

Effect of agrochemical related illness on technical efficiency of lowland rice farmers in Niger and Ogun states Nigeria

This study assessed the effect of agrochemical related illness on technical efficiency of lowland rice farmers in Niger and Ogun States of Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to obtain primary data from a cross section of 304 rice farmers in both states through the use of  questionnaire/interview guide. Data were analyzed through the use of descriptive statistics, cost of illness (COI) estimation, data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Tobit regression. The study revealed that cough was the most (58.10%) prevalent health symptom associated with the use of agrochemicals in the study area and that 46.70% of the rice farmers relied on self-medication. Also, the COI estimation revealed that a total of N4,273 was expended per treatment. The results of the DEA showed that rice farmers in the study area were technically inefficient with a mean score of 0.54, and this was influenced by age ( - 0.002, p < 0.05), sex ( - 0.243, p < 0.01), distance from home to farm ( - 0.007, p < 0.10), number of farm plots ( - −0.007, p < 0.10), cost of illness due to agrochemicals use ( - 5.510 p < 0.10), location ( - −0.298, p < 0.01), farm size ( - 0.112, p < 0.01), and use of fertilizer ( - 0.308, p < 0.01). The study concluded that farmers in the study area were exposed to agrochemical related illnesses and that the exposure influenced their technical efficiency negatively. The study, therefore, recommends the inclusion/enforcement of safety and health information pertaining to agrochemical use on extension packages. Also, policies on land reforms should be tailored towards reducing land fragmentation.Key words: treatment, cost, tobit, economic, applicatio

Technical Efficiency and Technology Gap Ratio in Cocoa Production in Nigeria: A Stochastic Metafrontier-Tobit (Sm-Tobit) Approach

The study analysed the technical efficiency and technology gap ratio in cocoa production in Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 390 cocoa farmers from three zones where cocoa is commercially grown in Nigeria. Separate stochastic frontier models were estimated for farmers in Kwara, Edo and Ondo States, along with a metafrontier model to obtain alternative estimates for the technical efficiencies of farmers in the different states. Subsequently, a Tobit model was used to access the factors influencing cocoa production in the study area. Results revealed that, the average technical efficiency level was 0.685 for the pooled sample, 0.506, 0.837 and 0.713 for Kwara, Edo and Ondo States respectively, suggesting that there is substantial scope to improve cocoa production in Nigeria. The mean MTR values of 0.506, 0.837 and 0.712 for Kwara, Edo and Ondo States respectively, implied that Edo State was more technically efficient than other states in the study area. The mean technology gap ratio (TGR) value of 84.3% indicated that, on the average, the cocoa farmers in the study areas would have to close a gap of about 15.7% in order for them to be technically efficient. The study recommended that cocoa farmers in Edo and Ondo States could improve their technical efficiency through a better management using the available technologies and resources while intervention to raise technology that will help close the gap between the regional frontier curve and the global frontier curve through raising and distributing disease resistant and high yielding cocoa seedlings to the farmers should be adopted in Kwara State

THE NIGERIAN AGRICULTURE AND POVERTY INCIDENCE: THE NEED FOR PRIVATE SECTOR EMPOWERMENT

Poverty in Nigeria is concentrated in rural areas. Low resource or resource-poor farmers characterized by preponderance of small farm units, fragile soils, rain-dependent, minimum inputs and poor yield dominate the agricultural sector. The incidence of poverty is highest among households in which the head is engaged in agriculture as the main source of income. Agricultural growth is therefore important to the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger in Nigeria. Conscious policy efforts by government towards poverty alleviation began during the SAP era. Some companies like Shell and certain State Governments have shown real interest in alleviating poverty through their agricultural programmes and policy statements. Nigeria’s current vision for agricultural development is expressed in the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), the New Agricultural Policy (NAP), and the Rural Sector Development Strategy (RSDS). This paper posits that provision of electricity, potable water, health centres and formal schools will facilitate the sustainability of any impact of poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria. Encouraging community development projects evolved by the communities themselves will minimize poverty incidence. Increasing the access of the poor to land and other productive resources will reduce poverty and generate employment. Development of infrastructural facilities in the rural areas has the two pronged approach of reducing poverty and developing the rural areas. Encouraging processing through adequate incentives to SMEs will also further empower the private sector

Comparative technical efficiency of pond fish production under two management systems in Abeokuta Metropolis, Ogun State, Nigeria

This study compared the technical efficiency of fish production under two management systems in Abeokuta metropolis, Ogun state, Nigeria. Primary data for this study were collected from forty-five fish farmers using earthen pond and thirty fish farmers using concrete pond through simple random sampling technique and complete enumeration techniques respectively. The Stochastic Frontier production function was employed for the determination of the technical efficiency of the fish farmers. Results revealed an average age of 44years and 46years for operators of concrete and earthen pond technologies respectively. They were mostly males and educated. There was a fairly high but almost equal technical efficiency scores in fish production for concrete (0.6429) and earthen pond (0.6432. Significant variables affecting fish production in concrete pond were stock size (α0.01) and feed (α0.05), while the factors affecting inefficiency was gender. For earthen pond technology the factors were pond size (α0.05), stock size (α0.01) and feed intake (α0.01), while the factors affecting inefficiency were age (α0.05), education level (α0.05) and household size (α0.10). Elasticity values for resources used for both technologies indicate that they were allocated and used in the stage II of the production process and that fish production in earthen pond technologies had higher feed conversion efficiency. The study recommended among others that, appropriate government agencies and community-based organisations, should encourage young and educated people to go into fish production as a precursor towards increasing technical efficiency of fish production

ASSESSMENT OF THE USE OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT) ON THE ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF AGRO-BASED FOOD INDUSTRIES IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

The use of Information Communication technologies (ICTs) as a management tool has gained widespread significance in recent years and the stock of management advantages provided by ICT cuts across disciplines and sectors. Management experts see this globalization of management options as the “super production and marketing input” needed by firms to boost their competitive edge. This paper assesses the adoption and use of ICTs on the economic performance of Agro-industries (ABFIs) in South-West, Nigeria. Primary data were collected from a total of 80 respondents from the study area. Budgetary analysis, t-test of mean differences and multiple regressions were used in the data analysis to actualise the study objectives. In assessing the effect of ICTs on the economic performance of the companies, the “before and after” scenarios were analysed. The results revealed an increase of about 14 percent increase in total profit after adoption of ICTs. The reduction in marketing cost brought about by adopting ICT s were found to be largely responsible for the increase in profit of the ICT adopting firms. The results also revealed that irrespective of the scale of operation, there was a general reduction in total marketing cost due to ICT adoption. The Cobb Douglas function fitted to explain the cost effect relationship between yearly firms’ expenditure on ICTs and firm’s characteristics revealed that the proportion of ICT literate staff to the total staff strength and age of firm were found to be significant positive determinants of ICTs expenditure. The study recommends the adoption and use of ICTs by agro-based firms as a cutting edge input that is not only cost effective but more efficient in the long run