Determinants of Market Participation by Maize Farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria

Smallholder farmers’ performance of marketing functions in Nigeria is very low despite the fact that there are invaluable benefits associated with market orientation and favourable trends in agricultural commercialization. This is the motivation for this study, which analyses market participation by maize farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study are to assess the extent of commercialization of agriculture in the rural and peri-urban areas, determine the factors that influence the degree of commercialization among households, identify the constraints facing the respondents in the study areas and carry out a policy simulation and analysis of market participation by maize farmers in the study area. The sample size for this study was 80 maize farmers from both rural and peri-urban areas by employing multistage sampling technique. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, truncated regression analysis and chow- test. The study revealed that the extent of agricultural commercialization in rural area (66.6%) was higher than that of peri-urban (65%) area in maize enterprise. It was observed that age of the household head, experience of the household head, cropping system, quantity of harvested output, farm size, land tenure and unit price of output had significant (5% and 1% significant level) influence on the intensity of market participation by maize farmers in rural and peri-urban areas of the State. As revealed from the study, some of the constraints facing majority of the maize farmers in the State covering rural and peri-urban areas were insufficient capital, high cost of transportation, poor road network, poor storage facilities, lack of credit facilities, inadequate agricultural inputs. It could be concluded that the extent of commercialization in both rural and peri-urban areas were not high enough, which calls for the attention of all the concerned parties (government and individuals) to put in place measures that will critically improve the extent of agricultural commercialization in the study area. In order to enhance market participation of maize farmers, well equipped market centers in various villages should be established by government and private individuals. Keywords: Commercialization, Market Orientation, Marketing, Peri-urban Area, Rural Area, Simulation, Truncated Regressio

Oparinde014ppt.pdf

Poverty issues cannot be underestimated in fish farmers' production as they influence farmers' attitudes towards risk. Despite the fact that there are studies on fish production risks, there is little or no study on fish farmers' poverty status and risk attitudes nexus in Nigeria. Hence, this study examined risk attitudes and poverty status nexus among fish farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 200 fish farmers. Descriptive statistics, Foster Greer Thorbecke Poverty Measures, Safety-First Model and Multinomial Logit Regression Model were used to analyse data from 179 respondents that gave adequate information. About 43.02% of the respondents were poor as the respondents identified Natural risks (29.0%), Social risks (24.9%), Economic risks (30.4%), Production risks (2.2%) and Technical risks (13.5%) as the sources of risks faced in fish production. The study further revealed that majority (57.0%) of the respondents in the study area were high risk-averse followed by intermediate risk-averse with 31.8%. Household size, Farmers' experience, Poverty status, Stocking density, Quantity of feed, Tertiary education and Access to credit were the significant factors that affected fish farmers' risk attitudes. Fish farmers should be encouraged to participate in agricultural insurance programmes. Individuals, government and non-governmental organizations should put programmes and policies that are capable of alleviating poverty in place in order to improve the ability of fish farmers to take risks in the study area

Risk Attitudes and Poverty Status Nexus Among Fish Farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria

Poverty issues cannot be underestimated in fish farmers' production as they influence farmers' attitudes towards risk. Despite the fact that there are studies on fish production risks, there is little or no study on fish farmers' poverty status and risk attitudes nexus in Nigeria. Hence, this study examined risk attitudes and poverty status nexus among fish farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 200 fish farmers. Descriptive statistics, Foster Greer Thorbecke Poverty Measures, Safety-First Model and Multinomial Logit Regression Model were used to analyse data from 179 respondents that gave adequate information. About 43.02% of the respondents were poor as the respondents identified Natural risks (29.0%), Social risks (24.9%), Economic risks (30.4%), Production risks (2.2%) and Technical risks (13.5%) as the sources of risks faced in fish production. The study further revealed that majority (57.0%) of the respondents in the study area were high risk-averse followed by intermediate risk-averse with 31.8%. Household size, Farmers' experience, Poverty status, Stocking density, Quantity of feed, Tertiary education and Access to credit were the significant factors that affected fish farmers' risk attitudes. Fish farmers should be encouraged to participate in agricultural insurance programmes. Individuals, government and non-governmental organizations should put programmes and policies that are capable of alleviating poverty in place in order to improve the ability of fish farmers to take risks in the study area

Oparinde 14.pdf

Poverty issues cannot be underestimated in fish farmers' production as they influence farmers' attitudes towards risk. Despite the fact that there are studies on fish production risks, there is little or no study on fish farmers' poverty status and risk attitudes nexus in Nigeria. Hence, this study examined risk attitudes and poverty status nexus among fish farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 200 fish farmers. Descriptive statistics, Foster Greer Thorbecke Poverty Measures, Safety-First Model and Multinomial Logit Regression Model were used to analyse data from 179 respondents that gave adequate information. About 43.02% of the respondents were poor as the respondents identified Natural risks (29.0%), Social risks (24.9%), Economic risks (30.4%), Production risks (2.2%) and Technical risks (13.5%) as the sources of risks faced in fish production. The study further revealed that majority (57.0%) of the respondents in the study area were high risk-averse followed by intermediate risk-averse with 31.8%. Household size, Farmers' experience, Poverty status, Stocking density, Quantity of feed, Tertiary education and Access to credit were the significant factors that affected fish farmers' risk attitudes. Fish farmers should be encouraged to participate in agricultural insurance programmes. Individuals, government and non-governmental organizations should put programmes and policies that are capable of alleviating poverty in place in order to improve the ability of fish farmers to take risks in the study area

Efficiency Analysis Among Maize and Cassava Farmers in Southwest, Nigeria: Application of Log Input Mean Correction Strategy

This study applied log input mean correction strategy and imposed linear homogeneity restriction in the estimation of efficiency among maize and cassava farmers in Southwest, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 310 respondents for the study. Data collected through well-structured questionnaire were analysed using Descriptive Statistics, Stochastic Frontier Translog Cost and Production Function. The results show direct relationships between the total cost of production with respect to maize output and input prices in the two enterprises. The input price elasticity estimates in the two enterprises support the assumption that the cost function is homogenous of degree one and that the cost minimizing factor prices is non-decreasing in P. Also, regularity condition of monotonicity is fulfilled as inputs increase output in the two enterprises. Therefore, maize and cassava farmers should be encouraged to expand their scale of operation which also allows them to benefit from economies of scale.Keywords: Efficiency, homogeneity, stochastic, crop, log-input