School of Agricultural Management and Extension Technology (SAMET)

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School of Agricultural Management and Extension Technology(SAMET)

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Adaptation Strategies and Utilization to Climate Change and Variability by Farming Households in Agricultural Zone 1 Niger State, Nigeria
(Journal of Science Technology and Education, 8(2), 2020) Ibrahim, M.; Mohammed, Y.; Abdullahi, A.; Shaba, E.; Yisa, K. M
The objectives of the study includes, describe the socioeconomic characteristics of farming households, examine the level of knowledge of farming households on climate change and variability, ascertain adaptation strategies to climate change and variability adopted by farming households and their perception of its effectiveness and examine the constraints associated with farming households on the adoption of climate change and variability adaptation strategies in the study area. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select a total of 188 respondents for the study. The data were collected through primary source using questionnaire and interview schedule and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Likert type rating. The finding revealed the hierarchy in adoption of adaptation strategies to climate change and variability with planting early maturing varieties and planting of high yielding varieties were 100% adopted. These variables were closely followed by use of agro-chemicals and use of manure (organic or inorganic) with 98.9%. In conclusion, adaptation strategies to climate change and variability that were found to be effective was identified and when adapted would reduce effect and impact of climate change and variability on farming household. It was recommended weather information that is more reliable should be adequately relate to farmers using right channel, High yielding and early maturing varieties should be made available to farmers at subsidized rate and timely by the releasing institutions and organization,
Adoption of Organic Farming practices among Rural maize farmers in Niger State, Nigeria
(Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Rural Sociology, 18(2), 2019) Abdullahi, A.; Salihu, I. T.; Umar, I. S.; Hassan.S
The study investigated adoption of organic practices among rural maize farmers in Niger state, Nigeria, with specific objectives of describing socioeconomic characteristics of the farmers, identifying farmers’ sources of information on organic practices, examining adoption level of organic practices in maize production and identifying constraints limiting adoption of organic practices by the farmers. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 222 maize farmers and data collected through structured questionnaire were analyzed using frequency counts, means and percentages. Results obtained shows that farmers in the study area were males (70.3%), mostly married (75.7%) with formal education (62.6%) at mean age and household size of 35.8 years and six (6) persons respectively. Also, farmers regularly acquire information about organic practices through extension agents (72.5%), relatives and neighbours (90.1%). Similarly, eight (8) out of the 15 practices identified were adopted. These include crop rotation (59.9%), mixed cropping (79.7%), mixed farming (73.0%), hoe/hand weeding (61.3%), slash and burn (54.1%), hoe/minimum tillage (66.2%), farm yard manure (53.2%) and crop residue incorporation (83.8%). Total adoption by the farmers was restricted by constraints such as; high costs of organic inputs (x=2.92), Difficulty in accessing loans for organic crop production (x=2.86) and low supply of manure (x=2.86). To this end, adoption level of organic practices among rural maize farmers in Niger State can be said to be moderate thus; it was recommended that change agents should enlighten farmers on various organic methods of weed, pest and disease control through the major sources of information in the area
An Appraisal of Farmers’ Knowledge Level on Information and Communication Technologies Utilization in Niger State, Nigeria
(Journal of Animal and Plant Research, Vol. 01, Issue, 03, 2024) Shuaibu, U.; Abdullahi, A.
The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in sharing information is very important in disseminating of agricultural information in Nigeria. Therefore, this study examined farmer’s knowledge level on utilization of ICT tools for farming in Niger state, Nigeria. A ordered logit model and descriptive statistics were used to examine the data that were gathered from 135 respondents. The findings showed that the majority of respondents (86.7%) had a good level of education, had an average age of 30, and had an average of 11 years of experience producing food crops. However data analysis reveals that mobile phone (97.8%) ranked first in terms of types of ICTs equipment used by the farmers while, fixed telephone (32.6%) was the least. Farmers also had moderate (61.5%) knowledge level on ICTs equipment. The ordered Logit regression analysis indicates that the following variables were found to be important determinants of farmers' knowledge level about the use of ICTs equipment in crop production: age, gender, marital status, compatibility, relative advantage, educational level, and farming experience. Therefore, it was suggested that an ICT training program be set up or arranged to educate farmers about the benefits of utilizing ICT technology in their farming operations
An Assessment of the Factors Influencing Maize Farmers’ Perception and Adoption of Organic Farming Practices in Niger State, Nigeria
(Journal of Animal and Plant Research, 1(3), 2024) Abdullahi, A.; Shuaibu, U.
This study used Heckman's analytical method to evaluate the impact on corn farmers' perception and adoption of organic farming practices. A multi-stage method was used to select 222 breeders and data collected from a semi-structured survey were analyzed using descriptive statistics (such as frequency, percentage, mean) and Hackman's two-stage selection model. The results showed that farmers in the study area were mostly male (70.3%), educated (62.6%), and had an average age of 35.8 years. Additionally, the fact that the majority of farmers were in favor of organic agriculture resulted in the approval of eight (8) of the 15 agreements in the region. Practices applied are: return of straw to the field (83.8%), mixing (79.7%), mixed tillage (73.0%), hoeing/reduced tillage (66.2%), hoeing/hand weeding (61.3%) and crop rotation (61.3%). 59.9%, slash and burn plants (54.1%) and farm manure (53.2%). The results of Heckman's two-stage analysis show evidence of sample selection problems where rho is different from zero, while lambda and efficiency (Wald chi2 = 40.51) are significant at 10% and 1% respectively. From the selection model, farmers' views on the use of traditional methods are positively influenced by socio-economic factors such as age, education, agriculture, access to extension services, similar benefits and income, while gender and family size are associated with understanding. In the outcome (adoption) model, the results showed that agricultural education and livestock production increased, with small farmers more likely to adopt organic farming than large farmers. Therefore, the culture of maize farmers in Niger is neutral and mostly influenced by the culture of the farmers. Therefore, it is recommended that agricultural suppliers provide sufficient amounts of organic material to corn producers and extension organizations that will train farmers regularly
Appraisal of Bio-security measures among Poultry Farmers in Nassarawa State, Nigeria
(Nigeria. International Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, 24 (2), 2021) Jibrin, S.; Salihu, I.T.; Abdullahi, A.; Muhammed, H.U.; Hassan, S.; Aliyu, A.
The study assessed the bio-security measure employed by poultry farmers in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, the objectives of the research were to examine socioeconomic characteristics of the poultry farmers; identify the sources of information on bio-security measures used by farmers; examine the types of biosecurity measures adopted by the poultry farmers; determine the factors influencing bio-security measures adopted by the poultry farmers and; examine the constraints associated with the adoption of bio-security measure by the poultry farmers in the study area. Data was collected from randomly selected 60 poultry farmers using well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regressions. The result shows that mean age, farming experience and flock size was 35 years, 7years and 6363 birds respectively. Almost all (93.33%) of the respondents had tertiary level of education. The majority (73.33%) of the farmers sourced bio-security information from veterinary officer and co-poultry farmers (58.33%). Major bio-security measures used by farmers include, isolation and quarantine of new birds (WM=3.90), disinfecting vehicles and all equipment before entry into the farm (WM=3.83) and avoiding contaminated feed and stagnant water (WM=3.87). The regression analysis revealed that the factors influencing bio-security measures adopted by the poultry farmers include Age, Farming experience, educational level, cooperative membership and system of poultry farming with an 𝑅2 of 0.3140. The result shows that farmers carry out bio-security measure but have limited knowledge and resources for effective operation. The government, NGOs, and extension agent/workers should educate farmers on the importance and use of bio-security measures and effort should be made to bring down the cost of disinfectants for optimum production.
Assessment of Adoption of improved Ginger Production Technologies in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria
(Nigeria. Journal of Agriculture and Environment, 15(2), 2019) Ibrahim, M.; Abdullahi, A.; I.I. Yakubu; K.M. Yisa
The study examines the adoption of improved ginger production technologies among farmers in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Multistage sampling was adopted. Kajuru LGA was purposively selected because of the preponderance of ginger production. In the second stage, a random selection of four extension blocks was made and eight extension cells were also randomly selected. Data were collected from 172 respondents through structured questionnaire and analysed using simple descriptive statistic. The result shows that the mean age of respondents was 32.5years and majority (82.5%) were literates. Mean farming experience was 15years. More than half (56.7%) of the respondents acquired their land through inheritance and majority (81%) got to know about improve ginger production technologies through radio. Improved production technologies such as use of herbicides ( =3.4), use of tarpaulins ( =3.4), use of jute bags ( =3.4) ranked highest among other production technologies adopted by the farmers. Constraints to adoption of improved ginger production technology were; lack of interest among youths ( =2.6) and high cost of hydro chemical ( =2.5). It was concluded that radio was the major source of awareness of ginger production technologies and use of chemical for land treatment ranked 1st in terms of adoption and farm size not adequate being major constraint. The use of radio programme should be strengthened for information dissemination. Land tenure regulations should be modified to allow famers access to land. Chemical weed control should also be encouraged among ginger farmers.
Assessment of factors influencing poultry production among rural farmers in Katcha and Lapai Local Government Areas of Niger State, Nigeria
(Journal of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology (JAAT) 13(1), 2024) Muhammad, H.U.; Muhammad, Y.; Abdullahi, A.; Jibrin, S.
The study assessed factors influencing poultry production among small-scale farmers in Katcha and Lapai Local Government Areas of Niger State. A three-stage sampling procedure was used to select 132 small-scale poultry farmers, to whom structured questionnaires were administered to collect primary data. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency count, percentages, and means), inferential statistics (multiple regressions), and farm budgeting techniques. The socio-economic characteristics of the farmers showed that most (45.5%) were between 30-40 years of age with a mean age of 36 years, 70.1% of the farmers were male, and 57.5% were married. The mean household size was six persons, while the mean farming experience was 5.2 years. Over half (53.0%) of the farmers had primary and secondary school education. The costs and returns evaluation result revealed that the farmers incurred more expenses in purchasing feeds (₦68,616.34). In contrast, returns on poultry production were ₦357,103.54 with a profitability and efficiency ratio of 1.28 and 2.28, respectively, per 100 birds. The multiple regression results revealed that feeds (0.0561), drugs/vaccines (0.0577), credit (0.0520), age (0.0192), education (0.0122), household size (0.0425) and farming experience (0.1617) significantly influence poultry output at 1% and 5% level of probability. Meanwhile, the high cost of feed (ẋ=2.45) and high temperature (ẋ= 2.29) were the most severe constraints faced by the poultry farmers. These findings showed that the poultry farmers were making reasonable returns from poultry farming. The government and other relevant stakeholders should encourage the farmers to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices to mitigate the effects of temperature on poultry birds. Also, extension services should be intensified, for increased poultry production in the study area.
Assessment of Rural Households’ participation in empowerment programmes of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Niger State, Nigeria
(International Journal of Agricultural Economics, Management and Development (IJAEMD), 10(1), 2022) Usman, U. N.; Salihu, I.T.; Abdullahi, A.; Umar, S.
NGOs have become tremendously active in a wide range of discipline and other more specialized roles such as poverty alleviation, emergency response, human rights work; hence the need to know rural households’ participation in these programmes. Therefore, this study assessed rural households’ participation on empowerment programmes of nongovernmental organizations in Niger state Nigeria. Data was obtained from randomly selected 112 households using structured questionnaires and analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. The result revealed that majority of the respondents (66.1%) were females, single (63.4%), had no formal education (66.1%) and are mostly farmers (63.4%). to The result on the extent of household participation in empowerment programmes showed that skill acquisitions and vocational training (X ̅=3.85) ranked first while Community sanitation services (X ̅=2.18) ranked the least. Probit regression model was used to analyzed the factors affecting the participation in empowerment programmes of NGOS, the result revealed that marital institution (0.66), formal education (0.71), distance to nearest market (-0.47), household size (-0.20), age (0.44) and complexity of the programme (-0.87) are significant determinants. The constraints of households’ participation in empowerment programmes of NGOs were inaccessibility to the programmes, lack of awareness and language barriers. Thus, it was recommended that Non-Governmental rganizations should broaden their links so as to expose the rural people to a variety of empowerment/ training programmes.
Assessment of Youths participation in cassava production under the value chain development programme (VCDP) in Bida Local Government Area of Niger State, Nigeria
(Scientific papers series management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and Rural Development, 19(3), 2018) Jirgi, A.J.; Adebayo, C. O.; Abdullahi, A.; Ibrahim, F. D.; Coker, A. A. A.
The study was carried out to assess youths participation in cassava production under value chain development programme (VCDP) in Bida local overnment Area of Niger State, Nigeria, with the specific objectives of describing the socio-economic characteristics of the VCDP participants, costs and returns, level of youths participation and factors influencing youth participation in the VCDP. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 100 young cassava farmers and data collected were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics and probit regression analysis. The level of profitability was measured using gross margin and net farm income analysis. The results obtained shows that farmers in the study area had low formal education and were mostly married males with an average age and household size of 32 years and six (6) persons respectively. The gross margin and net farm income were N 109,050.00 and N 103,450.00 per hectare, respectively. The level of youths’ participation under the VCDP was moderate and this was influenced by their age, gender, level of education, marital status, household size, farming occupation and cooperative membership. The major constraints faced by the farmers includes: poor extension agents/farmers’ ratio, inadequate capital and lack of market linkage. To this end, it was recommended that change agents should enlighten farmers on the benefit of VCDP and functional cooperative that could facilitate credit and group dynamism.
Causes and perceived socio-economic implications of Rural-Rural migration on Livelihood of some selected Communities in Makwa Area of Niger State, Nigeria.
(International Journal of Agriculture and Development studies, 3(1), 2018) Salihu, I.T.; Muhammed, H.U.; Abdullahi, A.; Muhammad, U. S.
The diversity of the ecological features, the varying local resources and location of agricultural activities in rural areas serves the major pull factors for migration directed towards rural areas. The study assessed the causes and perceived socio economic implications of rural rural migration on the livelihood of selected communities of Mokwa area of Niger State, Nigeria. A multi stage random sampling technique was employed to select 120 migrant farmers and non migrants used for the study. The interview schedule was used to elicit information for the study. The responses were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages and mean scores. The results revealed that rural rural migration is mostly undertaken by young adults within the age range of 30 50years and with low level of education. Environmental degradation factors such as infertile land (41.56%), incidences of flood (23.37%) and inadequate cultivable land (15.58%) were the major push factors causing rural out migration. While availability of cultivable fertile land (56.94%) was the major pull factor that attract migrants to the study area. The perceived socio-economic implications of the influx of migrants to the study area were increased rate of crime ( = 4.19), increased political unrest ( = 3.79), high level of sexual promiscuity ( = 3.64), introduction of new diseases ( = 3.31), and increased level of agricultural production ( = 3.27). The major problems encountered by the migrants in the study area were inaccessibility to infrastructural facilities (28.57%), insecurity (25.28%) and difficulty in land acquisition (20.88%). The study recommended that there is need to strengthen awareness campaigns and redirection of policies that can check poor land utilization and unsustainable agricultural practices in rural areas to curb the menace of out migration.
Comparative assessment of Rural Women poverty status in Suleja and Gurara Local Government Areas of Niger State, Nigeria
(Journal of Agriculture and food environment, 9(1), 2022) Muhammad, H. U.; Salihu, I.T.; Abdullahi, A.; Jibrin, S.; Hassan, S.; Aliyu, A.
Poverty is pervasive in rural areas of Niger State. Women living in rural households are more vulnerable to poverty than men. Thus, this study seeks to assess rural women farmers’ poverty status in Suleja and Gurara local government areas (LGAs) of Niger state, Nigeria. Interview schedules complimented with a questionnaire were used to obtain information from a total of 142 respondents. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) and Probit regression models. The results revealed that majority of the women were married (70.0%) and (78.5%) at mean ages of 38 and 40 years respectively. The result also showed that 85.7% and 93.7% of the women farmers identified processing of farm produce as their major source of farm income in Suleja and Gurara LGAs respectively. FGT analysis showed that 41% and 24%, of women in Suleja and Gurara LGAs of the State were poor at a Poverty line of ₦19,102.29 and ₦19,931.08 per month, respectively. The Probit regression results revealed that age, marital status, level of education, farming experience, number of extension visits, farm income and access to credit were the major factors influencing poverty among the rural women of Suleja and Gurara LGAs of Niger State. The study concluded that there was a higher level of poverty among the rural women farmers of Gurara compared to Suleja LGA, hence efforts should be made to diversify the livelihood portfolios of rural women in the study areas to enhance sustainability through the various women empowerment programs, extension services and credit facilities.
Effect of Climate Smart Agriculture on Food Security Status of Arable Crops Farmers in Niger State, Nigeria
(International Journal of Novel Research and Development (IJNRD), 9(6), 2024) Mohammad, H.U.; Shuaibu, U.; Abdullahi, A.; Mohammed, I.N.
The study was conducted to examined the effect of climate smart agriculture on food security status of arable crops farmers in Niger state, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 150 respondents for the study. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage, frequency distribution and inferential statistics such as ordered probit regression F-G-T Model and binary probit regression. The study revealed that majority of the arable crop farmers in the study area had average age of 48 years and married with an average household size of 6 persons. Furthermore, most of the respondents had formal education, with an average of 8 years of formal education, less than average had access to extension services and while membership of cooperative was low. The study also revealed that rotational grazing (𝑋̅ =7.09), planting of cover crops (𝑋̅ =6.76), planting of drought resistance varieties (𝑋̅ =6.57), use of compost and mulch (𝑋̅ =6.54) and capturing and storing water (𝑋̅ =6.35) were the water management strategies CSA adopted. Also, the use of green manure (𝑋̅ =3.32), no-till or zero tillage practice (𝑋̅ =3.16) and agro-forestry (𝑋̅ =3.04) were the conservative CSA strategies adopted. Similarly, the soil and land management CSA strategies adopted include; afforestation (𝑋̅ =6.28), ploughing land in direct direction (𝑋̅ =5.94), crop rotation (𝑋̅ =5.91) and shifting cultivation (𝑋̅ =5.94). the result also shows that level of education, complexity of CSA, access to government support, family labour, relative advantage of CSA and compatibility of CSA were the significant factors influencing adoption of climate smart agricultural technologies in the study area. Furthermore, the result shows that more than half (52.1%) of the arable farmers were food secure. Hence it was recommended that the arable farmers should be encouraged to sustain adoption different CSA practices to enhanced their agricultural productivity.
Effect of Domestic Violence on the Livelihood of Rural Households of Mupun Ethnic Group in Plateau State, Nigeria
(International Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, 24(2), 2021) Abdullahi, A.; Salihu, I.T.; Jibrin, S.; Pojwan, D.; Hassan, S.; Aliyu, A.
This study assessed the effect of domestic violence on the livelihood of rural farming households in Plateau State, Nigeria. Interview schedule complimented with questionnaire were used to obtain information from a total of 124 respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, percentages and mean. The results revealed that majority of the farmers were married (69.5%) and educated (96.8%) with a mean age of 39years. The result also shows that farmers suffers from various kinds of violence from their partners ranging from physical (mostly (97.6%) by hitting, kicking, slapping and beating), psychological (mostly (96.8%) by yelling and screaming) and sexual violence (mostly (99.2%) by withholding sex). While the existing social norms, traditions and culture (𝑋̅=4.23), extra marital affairs (𝑋̅ =4.17) and alcoholism (𝑋̅=3.98) were the major causes of domestic violence among rural households. These attributes and traditions had negative effects on farmers’ livelihood in the manner of decline in social interaction with other farmers (𝑋̅=4.56), decrease productivity in labour input (𝑋̅=4.55) and decrease adoption of new technologies (𝑋̅=4.35). However, farmers believed that economic empowerment of women (𝑋̅=4.48), removing norms against gender mainstreaming (𝑋̅=4.45) and avoiding force/arranged marriage (𝑋̅=4.43) and dialogue with kinsmen (𝑋̅=4.42) were perceived as the most effective strategies to curbing domestic violence in the area. Thus, it was recommended that rural famers should be given adequate orientations on marital affairs as well as the health implications of domestic violence on rural economy.
Effectiveness of E-Wallet Scheme in Fertilizer Distribution to Yam Farmers in Agricultural Zone II of Niger State, Nigeria
(The Nigerian Journal of Agricultural extension, 19(2), 2018) Salihu, I.T.; Iko, D.S.; Jimoh, K.K.; Abdullahi, A.; Adewumi, A.
Accessibility and affordability of fertilizer for agricultural production has been a challenge for small holder farmers in Nigeria. It is on this basis the study assessed the level of effectiveness of fertilizer distribution to yam farmers via E-wallet scheme in agricultural zone II of Niger State, Nigeria. Interview schedule complimented with questionnaire were used to obtain information from a total of 163 respondents. Data were analyzed using frequency distribution, percentages, mean and ordinary least square (OLS). Farmers mean age was 36 years, majority (97.55%) were male, with an average farming experience of 21 years. There was low level of fertilizer accessibility E- wallet scheme in the area. Although farmers perceived the platform as effective in the procurement of fertilizer, they noted that it was ineffective, as distribution was untimely. OLS regression revealed that years of education, farm size, access to extension service, distance to redemption centre, cooperative society membership, years of registration, major occupation and fertilizer affordability had significant effect on the quantity of fertilizer received by farmers. The major constraints were inadequate quantity of fertilizer allocation, late supply of fertilizer and high transaction cost. The success of mobile phone use for accessing fertilizers was achieved to some extent through the subsidy scheme. It was recommended that more redemption centres should be established to reduce cost of procurement and transport of fertilizer; and that agrodealers should make proper arrangement with fertilizer companies before the cropping season to guard against late supply of fertilizers.
Factors Affecting Intention to Adopt Urban Farming among Households in Niger State, Nigeria
(International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, 5(11), 2024) Jibrin, S.; Abdullahi, A.; Muhammad, H.U.; Shehu, M.; Shuaibu, U.; Yahya, M.G
The aim of this research is to access the factors affecting intention to adopt urban farming among household in zone 2 of Niger state, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 104 farming households as respondents for the study. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage, frequency distribution and inferential statistics such as ordered logit regression. The result in this research indicates that majority of the respondent are still in their youthful years (30 to 40) and most of them are male. Majority of them have been practicing urban farming for not more than 10years, 80% of them have at least a secondary education. Their major occupation is farming and 74% of the respondents are married. The types of urban farming indicated by the farming households were poultry production (96.2%) and crop production (90.0%) which are also the most adopted urban farming practices in the study area respectively. The result of the ordered logit regression shows that the prob>chi2 is significant at 1% level of probability indicating a relatively good fit for the ordered logit regression model. However, age, level of education, farming experience, cooperative society, credit received, and farm size were the significant factors affecting intention to adopt urban farming practices in the study area. Inadequate land, low access to credit and high cost of medication were the predominant constraints associated with adoption of urban farming practices among the farming households in the study area. The study recommended that government should develop financial products and services tailored to urban farmers, such as microloans or grants. Establish partnerships with financial institutions to provide affordable credit options and financial literacy programs for farmers.
Factors Affecting the Use of Traditional Medicine Among Farmers in Osun State, Nigeria
(International Research Journal of Advanced Education and Sciences, 1(1), 2023) Jibrin, S.; Mohammed, H. U.; Abdullahi, A.; Ahmed, I. I.; Umaru, A.; Jimoh, M.
The study accessed the factors affecting the use of traditional medicine among farmers in Osun State Nigeria. To achieve the study objectives, 3-stage sampling technique was used to randomly select 147 respondents for the study. Data were collected using questionnaire, complimented with interview schedules, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and Probit regression model. Based on the findings of the research, it was discovered that farming was a male dominated enterprise (62.6%), with 87.8% of them been married and having a mean age of 34 years. Also, mean household size was 7 with 51.0% of them not having formal education. The result further shows that mean extension visit was 2, while family/friends and radio programmes where the leading sources of information among farmers on traditional medicine to use. The farmers also reported that traditional medicines where more affordable than the orthodox medicine while the most preferred reason for using traditional medicine among farmers, is its effectiveness in treating aliment and lack of time to see physician. More so, farmers prefer traditional medicine because it is sourced from nature which makes it safe for the body while malaria and cough where the leading ailment which farmers in Osun State use traditional medicine to cure. Results from the Probit regression model shows that level of education, relative advantage of traditional medicine, household size, knowledge level on traditional medicine, level of cosmopolitan, perception on traditional medicine and access to extension services where all positively significant at different levels of significance. The study therefore recommends that traditional healers and farmers should undergo training and re-training on the use of traditional medicine on how to better prescribe the necessary dosage per time since they agreed that it is more user friendly and affordable.
Factors influencing Women Participation in Savings Mobilization Scheme in Benue State
(Journal of Agripreneurship and Sustainable Development, 4(4), 2021) Lawal, M.; Salihu, I.T.; Tsado, J.H.; Umar, I. S.; Abdullahi, A.
The study determines factors influencing women participation in saving mobilization scheme (SMS) in Benue State, Nigeria. A sample size of 137 omen were selected from the State using four-stage sampling techniques. Structured questionnaire complimented with interview scheduled were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (means, percentages and frequency counts), Livelihood Status Index (LSI) and Ordinary Least Square regression. The result revealed that rural women participated commonly in saving money through esusu (X ̅ = 3.60, weekly thrift contribution (X ̅ = 3.45) as well as production and marketing cooperative (X ̅= 3.14). The findings also revealed that 52.6% of the respondents had high livelihood status during participation in SMS. The coefficient of age (0.050444), marital status (0.57432), household size (0.073597), years in education (-0.9544), membership of cooperative (0.432058) and access to credit (-0.08612) had significant influence on women level of participation in SMS. The study concluded that more than half of the respondents had high livelihood status during SMS. Also, the coefficient of age, marital status, household size, years of education, member cooperative and access to credit have influence on women level of participation in SMS in the study area. It was recommended that women should diversify in other sustainable income generating activities in order to enhance their livelihood status. Also, women should source for credit from viable and credible institution to ensure sustainable livelihood.
Influence of improved open pollinated maize variety adoption on livelihood status of farmers in Niger state, Nigeria
(Journal of Agripreneurship and Sustainable Development 4(1), 2021) Umar, I.S.; Mohammed, U.; Mohammed, Y.; Abdullahi, A.; Abubakar, U.
The study examined influence of improved open pollinated maize variety adoption on the livelihood status of farmers in Niger State, Nigeria. To achieve the objectives of the study, 120 farmers were randomly selected from three (3) Local Government Areas in the State. Validated interview schedule with reliability co-efficient of 0.74 was used for data collection and analyzed using descriptive statistics, livelihood index and multiple regression analysis. Result showed that the mean age and mean farm size of the respondents was 34 years and 1.9 ha, respectively. Finding further indicated that 82.5% of the respondents were full adopters by cultivating improved maize variety in at least 10% of their total farm lands. The result also revealed that educational level, income, incentive and time of awareness positively and significantly influenced adoption of improved maize variety, which highly upshot the livelihood status of the respondents by about 70.0%. The study recommended that incentive such as free seed of improved varieties should be given to farmers for testing by the improved varieties’ promoters during awareness to facilitate adoption. It was also suggested that extension agents should synchronize awareness time with seasons of usage of the improved varieties to speed up the practical application of the improved varieties.
Participation of Rural Youths in Cassava production in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria
(Nigeria. Journal of Agricultural economics, Extension and Social Science, 3(1), 2019) Muhammed, Y.; Ajayi, O.J.; Muhammad, H.U.; Oloruntoba, V.T.; Abdullahi, A.; Jibrin, S.
This study assessed the participation of rural youths in cassava production at Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria. Data were obtained from 120 rural youth randomly selected using structured questionnaire administered by well-trained enumerators. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency counts, percentage and mean) and inferential statistics (Probit regression model) as well as 5–point Likert scale. The results of the analysis revealed that majority (91.7%) of the respondents were less than 30 years of age with mean age of 25 years, 95.8% were males and 51.7% were married. About 93% of the respondents acquired formal education (primary, secondary and tertiary) with mean of 11 years in formal schooling. The mean household size was 3 members, while mean farming experience was 7 years. With respect to perception of the respondents about cassava production, they agreed that cassava production is an important source of income (𝑋̅ = 4.66), it improves their livelihood (𝑋̅ = 3.80) and that improved planting materials enhances output (𝑋̅ = 3.68) ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Land clearing and planting (99.2%), land tilling (98.3%), weeding (96.7%), harvesting (95.0%) and fertilizer application (80.0%) were the major cassava production activities performed by the respondents. Probit regression analysis revealed that marital status (1.965), farmland (1.744), credit (2.277) and extension services (2.009) were positive and significantly influences participation in cassava production. Problem of loan, Government policies and inadequate improved varieties (98.3%) were the major constraints faced by the respondents. In conclusion, most of the respondents were educated, married and participated in various cassava production activities, but they were constrained by finance and poor policies. Therefore, it was recommended that Government should make policies that will enhance rural youth participation in cassava production to boost output, while financial institute
Perceived Benefits of Farmers’ Cooperative Societies on Rice Production in Selected Local Government Areas of Abuja, Nigeria
(Journal of Agricultural Economics and Extension Technology JAE2 S2, 2(1), 2019) Salihu, I. T.; Tsado, J. H.; Dauda, S. N.; Abdullahi, A.; M. Ibrahim; Ovaioza, S.
This study examined the perceived benefits of farmers’ cooperative societies to rice production in selected local government areas (LGAs) of Abuja, Nigeria. Using a structured questionnaire complimented with interview schedule, data were collected from 120 respondents selected from four cooperative societies in the study area through a multi-stage sampling technique. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis. The result showed that the respondents mean age was 46years and about half (50.8%) had up to at least secondary education. Majority (83.4%) of the respondents had been involved in rice cultivation for the past 15years but only 5.8% had only been members of rice cooperative for more than 10 years. The respondents’ perceived benefits of cooperative society on rice production with higher mean scores include “cooperative gives advice on the quality of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, and cropping practices” (WM = 4.68), “helped in facilitating access to better market” (WM = 4. 57), “enlightening and educating members on new improved farm practices and access to farm inputs” (WM = 4.50). The linear regression analysis results revealed that the R2 value was 0.8445, meaning that over 84% of the variables included in the model accounted for the variation in the dependent variable. The educational level, marital status and farmers output were respectively, significant at 1% level of probability. On the hypothesis, there is a significant difference between the rice output produced by farmers before and after joining the cooperative societies (t-cal (5.211) > t-critical (1.00). Complicated administrative procedure, poor membership contribution, lack of trust among members, discriminating attitude of cooperative officials and inability to access loan/credit were the major problems faced by the cooperative members. Therefore, it was recommended that Agricultural stakeholders should encourage farmers to operate a functional cooperative that could facilitate credit and group dynamism.