ABSTRACT This study was conceived in regard to the empirical reality that farming in Enugu State, as it applies to all parts of Southeastern Nigeria, is constrained by the adverse effects of climate change. It was therefore, considered necessary to conduct an assessment of smallholder farmers’ awareness to climate change, their adaptation strategies, the associated costs and returns, underpinning, and constraints to their adoption of the identifies adaptation strategies. This study assessed...
ABSTRACT This study sought to determine the adoption and disadoption of sweetpotato production and processing technologies by farmers in the South-east zone of Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: determine the level of awareness of the sweetpotato production and processing technologies among farmers in the zone; determine the extent of adoption and disadoption of the sweetpotato production and processing technologies by farmers in the zone; examine the determinants of adoption and disad...
ABSTRACT This study was conducted to analyze the effects of policy on the development of Agro-based micro-enterprises in the informal sector of Bayelsa State of Nigeria. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 150 microenterprises that were randomly selected. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression, Access model and the t- statistics were employed for data analysis. Among the major findings were that the agricultural micro-enterprises span the entire agricultural sector o...
Abstract This study examined the impact of fertilizer policy on crop production. The various trends in fertilizer policy reform were explored. Specifically, the fertilizer policy was studied under two policy regimes: the pre-liberalization and the liberalization periods. The first period is between 1986 and 1996, which otherwise constituted the preliberalization era while the years between 1997 and 2006 make up the second period, otherwise called the liberalization era. Secondary data on the ...
ABSTRACT The study analyzed the performance of watermelon marketing in Enugu state, Nigeria. Watermelon has long been regarded as a minor crop in Nigeria and thus, has attracted little marketing research attention, in comparison to other major food and cash crops. The specific objectives were to: describe the socio-economic characteristics of watermelon marketers (wholesalers and retailers); describe the marketing channels of watermelon; examine the structure and conducts of watermelon market...
ABSTRACT This study examined access to formal credit by farmers’ co-operatives in Enugu State. The specific objectives were to: (i) ascertain the institutional credit guidelines which affected access to formal credit by farmers’ co-operatives in Enugu State, (ii) describe the patterns of access to credit, (iii) ascertain the extent of access to formal credit by the respondents, (iv) ascertain the factors which determined access to formal credit, (v) examine the respondents’ perceptions ...
ABSTRACT The study examined the Performance of Farmers’ Multipurpose Cooperative Societies (FMCS) in Enugu North Agricultural zone of Enugu State, Nigeria. Purposive and proportional sampling techniques were used to collect primary data from 30 FMCS through their chairmen. The analytical techniques involved both descriptive and inferential statistics. It was revealed that 46.7% of the cooperative had between 31 and 50 members (i.e. cooperators). About 47% of FMCS had less than N 200,000.00 ...
ABSTRACT Currently, the cassava crop is transiting from a staple food commodity into an industrial crop for the production of starch and ethanol and this suggests probable changes in marketing arrangements and conditions. The present study analyzed the cassava chains and the economic implications on actors in Southern Ghana. The value chain actors interviewed include cassava farmers and small-scale (gari and agbelima) processors who were selected randomly and large-scale cassava processors, ...
CHAPTER ONE IN T R O D U C T IO N 1.0 The setting The amount of money a household is willing to devote to malaria care is related to the behaviour of the household towards general malaria care. Knowledge of such behaviour is useful in designing malaria control programmes and cost sharing schemes. Although malaria is the major health problem in Africa, there is very little research on its economic impact. Factors promoting certain patterns of health care seeking behaviour such as the user ch...
ABSTRACTThe study was conducted to analyze the impact of physical and social capital asset holdings on poverty among farm households in Nigeria as a contribution towards finding a panacea to the poverty plague in the agricultural sector. The study used secondary data obtained from the Nigeria living Standard Survey data conducted in 2003/2004. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Forster-Greer- Thorbeck poverty measures and Propensity score matching. Results showed that 90% of the...
ABSTRACT The study assesses credit use and its effect on profitability among smallholder maize farmers in the Brong Ahafo Region. A multistage sampling technique involving purposive sampling, stratified sampling and simple random sampling technique were employed to select the region, two municipalities from the region and 200 smallholder maize farmers respectively for the survey using well-structured questionnaires. The study took into consideration a description of the sources of credit...
ABSTRACT The study assesses the effect of nucleus farmer-outgrower schemes on input use efficiency and profitability among smallholder farmers in the Northern Region of Ghana. Simple random sampling technique was employed to sample three districts from the Northern Region and a total of 330 smallholder farmers made up of 150 outgrowers and 180 non-outgrowers were interviewed using structured questionnaires. A comparative analysis is made between outgrowers and non-outgrowers. The study emp...
This study was carried out to examine the role of agriculture in the economic development of Kericho district. The findings showed that due to farming among the people of Ainamoi, agricultural practices in Ainamoi is still very low. The results also showed a positive significant improvement of people's standard of living. The researcher focused on the proper importance, problems and solutions of agriculture in the economic development of Kericho district. A longitudinal design was developed...
Agriculture is the dominant source of livelihood in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. However, in semi-arid eastern Kenya, smallholder farm productivity has been diminishing due to declining soil fertility and frequent droughts. Nitrogen (N) is the principal nutrient element limiting crop productivity in the region, followed by phosphorus (P). The use of N fixing legumes in intercrop with cereal crops is among the cheaper-viable options available for the resource-constraint farmers to enhanc...
Pumpkin is an indigenous vegetable with huge potential to provide nutrition, food security and income to households in Kenya but its production remains low. The crop has been given little attention in research and has not been promoted as a viable enterprise. Literature indicates that socio-economic factors and farming constraints in pumpkin production, consumption and marketing by smallholder farmers in Eastern and Central Kenya have not been studied nor documented. This research was carrie...