Suchergebnisse

Seed certification enhances seed quality and has the potential to increase rice yield and improve farmers' income. Rice farmers in Nigeria were granted access to certified improved rice seed at a subsidized rate using the seed voucher system by the Emergency Rice Initiative (2008-2010), formulated by AfricaRice, in response to the global food crisis of 2008, in order to mitigate the adverse effects on poor farmers. The impact of access to the Subsidized Certified Improved Rice seed (SCIRS) on farming households' income has not been documented. Hence, this study was conducted to fill this gap. The data were collected using a multistage random sampling technique. Osun, Niger and Kano states were selected to represent - upland, lowland and irrigated rice growing systems, respectively. Five major rice-producing Local Government Areas (LGAs) were selected from each state, followed by the selection of three villages from each LGA. In all, 600 rice farmers were selected on the basis of probability proportionate to the population size of rice farmers in the villages, out of which 160 farmers were randomly selected to receive the SCIRS (treatment group) and the rest were not given (control group). Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, ATE estimation method and the Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) estimation techniques. The result revealed that average income from rice production and per capita household income increased by 18.5% and 2.3% respectively at the end of the intervention in 2010. The result of the LATE showed that access to SCIRS increased income from rice production by N50, 220.55 per cropping season, thereby reducing the farmers' probability of being poor. Therefore, timely access to seed of good quality can be a route out of the present prevailing rural poverty in Nigeria. It is recommended that seed certification should be intensified.

Seed certification enhances seed quality and has the potential to increase rice (Oryza sativa L) yield and improve farmers' income. There is a dearth of information on factors that determine farmers' access to certified, improved rice seed and affect farmers' income in Nigeria. Hence, this study was conducted to fill this gap. The data were collected using a multistage random sampling technique. Osun, Niger, and Kano states were selected to represent upland, lowland, and irrigated rice growing systems, respectively. Five major rice-producing local government areas (LGAs) were selected from each state, followed by the selection of three villages from each LGA. In all, 600 rice farmers were selected on the basis of probability proportionate to the population of rice farmers in the villages. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the logistic regression model, and ordinary least square (OLS) regression. Contact with extension agents, access to media, age of household head, and years of formal education significantly increased the probability of access to certified, improved rice seed. Furthermore, agricultural expenditure (P 0.05), access to seed (P 0.01), household size (P 0.01), years of formal education (P 0.05), and income from other crops (P 0.01) had a significant positive effect on income from rice production. Increased access to the certified, improved rice seed, particularly through the formal seed-supply system, should lead to a significant improvement in the farmers' income and ultimately reduce the prevailing poverty among the farming households in Nigeria.

Open Access Journal ; Résumé Facteurs socio-économiques et accès au crédit des petits producteurs de manioc dans le sud-ouest du Nigeria L'accès au crédit est un facteur important pour l'augmentation de la productivité agricole. Le modèle " Tobit" a été utilisé pour évaluer les facteurs qui influencent l'intensité de l'accès au crédit des petits producteurs de manioc du sud-Ouest du Nigeria. Les données primaires utilisées ont été collectées, auprès de 856 ménages, lors d'une enquête conduite par l'International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) en 2011. Les résultats du modèle empirique Tobit indiquent que seules sept des 11 variables sont statistiquement liées à l'intensité de l'accès au crédit. Cependant, seules les variables cheptel, production totale de manioc, valeur monétaire des actifs productifs du ménage et taille du ménage ont une influence positive et statistiquement différente de zéro sur l'intensité de l'accès au crédit. L'augmentation de ces variables permettrait d'augmenter le montant du crédit auquel un agriculteur pourrait avoir accès. Les politiques qui mèneront à l'amélioration de la diversification par l'élevage, l'augmentation de la production de manioc et l'accumulation d'actifs des agriculteurs sont recommandées pour cette région. Abstract Access to credit is an important factor in the attainment of agricultural productivity increase. We adopted a Tobit model to assess the factors that influence the intensity of rural smallholder cassava farmers' access to credit in Southwest Nigeria, using primary data collected from 856 rural households by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in 2011. The results of the empirical Tobit model indicate that seven out of the 11 variables included in the model are statistically related to the intensity of access to credit. However, only total livestock unit, cassava output, monetary value of the households' productive assets and household size are positively and statistically significant. This implies that increase in output, diversification of households' income sources into livestock production and accumulation of assets are important variables that have the potential to enhance farmers' access to larger amounts of credit. Therefore, policies that will lead to improve farmers' outputs and/or increase diversification and assets accumulation are recommended for this region. ; Peer Review

Open Access Journal; Published online: 22 Apr 2022 ; The youth unemployment situation is an essential component of the current agricultural policy agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria. Deep-rooted debates on finding a lasting solution to this problem using agriculture have been targeted as one of the panaceas. Using data from 207 systematically selected rice-producing households, this study employed the Propensity Score Matching method (PSM) and the Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment method (IPWRA) to examine the effect of intensive youth participation in agriculture on productivity and household revenue in Nigeria. We found that the key factors influencing the decisions of youth to participate in agriculture intensively include the number of years of farming experience, access to credit, membership in social groups, income, and land access. The PSM results indicate that rice productivity could increase by 1088.78 kg/ha if youth decide to intensively participate in agriculture. The IPWRA results show a positive and significant impact of intensive youth participation in agriculture on productivity and revenue. Therefore, our results suggest that efforts by the government and stakeholders towards encouraging flexible accessibility to credit (low-interest and easy repayment) and land without collateral to young people could enhance their participation in intensive agriculture and could subsequently boost productivity and household revenue.

Open Access Article; Published online: 7 Apr 2021 ; The proponents of the entrepreneurial motivation dichotomy have argued that opportunity-driven entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed and sustain in entrepreneurship, unlike people who start-up businesses out of necessity. However, disagreement still exists on why and under which conditions the former might outperform the latter. This research contributes to this debate by examining the mediation role of psychological capital in the relationship between entrepreneurial motivation and business success among youths. This study relied on a random sample of 295 young entrepreneurs surveyed from Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We applied partial least squares to analyze the hypothesized relationships. Evidence for the positive effect of opportunity-led motivation on psychological capital was found, but the findings did not support any direct effect of entrepreneurial motivation on business success. Instead, psychological capital positively and significantly mediated the relationship between entrepreneurial motivation and business success. This paper makes a distinctive new contribution to the understanding of the intriguing and controversial entrepreneurial motivation dichotomy—a business success relationship. To this end, we have found out that opportunity entrepreneurs have 3% more chance of succeeding in businesses compared to necessity entrepreneurs, because the former outperform the latter by 4% in the dimensions of psychological capital. This paper has new policy implications, as it reveals the great importance of psychological capital in promoting business success, thus reducing unemployment among youths, and offers tips from which psychological capital can be built or improved.

Open Access Journal; Published online: 13 Jul 2021 ; The increasing rate of youth unemployment in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, remains among the challenges to social and economic stability. Accordingly, the Nigerian government implemented several interventions, including the Youth-in-Agribusiness (YIA) program to reduce youth unemployment. However, the effect of these programs on gainful employment creation is yet to be documented. Therefore, this study examined the impact of the YIA program on creating gainful employment among the youth. Multistage random sampling was used to obtain cross-sectional data from 668 youth in Southwestern Nigeria. Propensity score matching and endogenous switching probit techniques were used for the estimations. Results indicated that variables such as educational attainment, access to training, non-agricultural activity, membership in a youth organization, access to credit, productive resources, and youth location were significant and positively influenced youth decision to participate in the YIA program. Furthermore, participation in the YIA program has a significant positive impact on gainful employment among the youth. Therefore, the study recommends that strengthening social capital such as youth organization, credit scheme (financed by private and government), vocational training, and educational system is vital in enhancing participation in the YIA program and eventually gainful employment of youth.