ABSTRACT
The study investigated the resource use efficiency among Fadama crop farmers in Ibadan Ibarapa agricultural zone of Oyo state, Nigeria. Data were collected from 120 respondents who were randomly selected and interviewed using both interview schedule and questionnaire. The data collected were presented using percentage and means. The findings o revealed that there was no significant difference in the productivity between Fadama and non fadama (soko) farmers, while there was a significant difference between the productivity of Fadama and non fadama (watermelon) farmers as well as Fadama and non fadama maize farmers.The gross margin analysis of Fadama and non Fadama crop farmers revealed that Fadama soko farmers and Fadama maize farmers were more profitable than the non Fadama farmers in the area. For watermelon, the non fadama farmers were more profitable because they had higher output. The findings also revealed that labour, fertilizer, insecticides and seed influenced the technical efficiency of soko farmers. Herbicides and insecticides influenced the technical efficiency of watermelon farmers, while labour, insecticide and seed influenced the technical efficiency of maize farmers. The positive coefficient for age variable implies that the older farmers were more technically inefficient than theyounger ones. Also negative coefficient for education implies that the farmers level of technicalinefficiency declined with more education. With regards to farmer-specific factors, especially education, there is the need for policyto promote formal education as a means of enhancing efficiency in production over the long-term period. This is because it would enable farmers make better technical decision and also help in allocatingtheir production inputs effectively. In the short-term, informal extension education could beeffective, especially when targeted at farmers who have had limited formal educationalopportunities.The coefficient of farming experience was estimated to be negative as expected andstatistically significant at the 5-percent level. The implication is that farmers with more years offarming experience tend to be more efficient in crop production. It is possible that such farmers gained more years of farmingexperience through “learning by doing,” and thereby becoming more efficient.The study also found that farmers under Fadama harvested more per unit ofland of output of crop than nonfadama farmers for soko and maizeand this confirms the hypothesis that programme intervention has the capacity to succor farm production problems while accruing more income to farmers.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Information
Smallholder agriculture is the dominant occupation of rural Nigerians which is mainly rain-fed. Yet, Nigeria has a potential comparative advantage in the production of a variety of fresh and processed high value crops, especially vegetables during the dry season and livestock product (meat and milk) through out the year. This is because the country is endowed with underground and surface water reserves, rich pastures and favourable agro-ecological conditions in the country's low-lying plains with alluvial deposit called fadama.
Agriculture constitutes a significant sector of Nigeria's economy. The sector is significant in terms of employment generation, contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and until early 1970, agricultural exports were the main sources of foreign exchange earnings (Amaza and Olayemi, 2002). During the 1960s, the growth of the Nigerian economy was derived mainly from the agricultural sector. However, in more recent years,there has been a marked decline in the performance of Nigeria's agriculture. National Gross Domestic Product (GDP), declined from 62% in the 1960s to 47.9% in the 1970s, down to a low 19% in 1980’s, but following the SAP, this share was turned around in the 1990’s rising steadily to 38% in 1994, 39.2% in 1997 and 41.3% in 2000 (Ndubuizu, 2003). The agricultural sector's changing share of GDP is partly a reflection of the relative productivity of the sector.
Farm incomes are generally very low due to declining productivity(World Bank, 1996). The low farm income, resulting from declining productivity in the agricultural sector, could be attributed to the dependence on rainfall for production in some parts of the country, the scarcity of which becomes a critical limiting factor to all-year-round cultivation.In addition, increased agricultural production is necessary to meet the needs of the increasing population.Given this situation, it is quite important for resource to be used at their most efficient levels. Resource productivity is thus an important matter in determining the sustainability of agricultural production. This cannot be attained without recourse to supplementary irrigation for the major food production areas of the country (Adeolu and Taiwo, 2004), hence, the need for the initiation and implementation of the National Fadama Development Project (NFDP) in the country.
‘Fadama’ is a Hausa name for ‘wetlands’, and means ‘Akuro’ or ‘Abata’ in the Yoruba language. These are low-lying flood plains with easily accessible shallow ground water. Though the surfaces of these flood plains become dry during the dry seasons, appreciable amounts of water can be trapped from shallow aquifers that abound around the plains (leading to the development of tube wells by drilling). The water obtained from the tube wells is used for the development of small-scale irrigation schemes to boost dry season crops production (NFDO, 2007)
Fadama is an integrated approach which came into being as a result of the failure of agriculturalproductivity, to achieve rural development and food security objectives of government.Fadama farmers are those who utilize the resources provided by fadama on a sustatainable basis. They benefit under the project by Community Driven Development approach, through the preparation of Local Development Plan. The Community Driven Development (CDD) approach is a bottom-top approach for the development of agricultural enterprise, there is a high sense of belonging by the beneficiaries because the communities take responsibility for designing, implementing, operating and maintaining sub-projects prioritized in their Local Development Plans.
The National Fadama Development Project is a major instrument for achieving the Government's poverty reduction objective in the rural areas of Nigeria. First National Fadama Development project (NFDP I) was designed in the early 1990s to promote simple and low-cost improved irrigation technology under the World Bank. The first phase of the National Fadama Development Project (NFDP1) was between 1993-1999.
The sector goal is to reduce poverty by improving the living conditions of the rural poor, contribute to food security and increase access to rural infrastructure. The project objective is to enhance agricultural production, productivity and value addition for smallholders and rural entrepreneurs in Fadama areas on a sustainable basis. The main features of the project are to support the provision of marketing infrastructure, empowering stakeholders, improving mechanism for conflict resolution, support establishment of rural and non- farm enterprises, support improved management and increase food production in the Fadama areas.
The Project enables Fadama Resource Users to adopted output enhancing techniques and more effective marketing practices, it finances Fadama road improvement and rehabilitation, service centers, market infrastructure , drainages of boreholes and cold rooms. At the completion...
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