IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF USAID-MARKETS II ON PRODUCTIVITY AND POVERTY STATUS OF RICE FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN EBONYI STATE NIGERIA
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2021-02-26
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ahmadu Bello University Zaria
Abstract
Poverty and low productivity of most staple food crops have continued to be a great challenge in
Nigeria. Over the years, Nigerian government has come up with various plans and programmes
aimed at reducing the level of poverty and increasing agricultural productivity. There is an
increasing concerns by the government, international and local aid donors for concrete evidence to
be supplied on the impact of such public programmes that aims at increasing productivity and
reducing poverty. Therefore, this study assessed the impact of United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) -Maximizing Agricultural Revenue and Key Enterprises in
Targeted Sites (MARKETS) II project on the productivity and poverty status of rice faming
households in Ebonyi State, Nigeria with a view to showcase the contribution of USAID-
MARKETS II project to poverty reduction and rice productivity. Multi-stage sampling technique
was employed to select 239 participants and 252 non-participants of the project for the study.
Structured questionnaire and field observation were used in collecting data for 2018 cropping
season. Data collected were analysed using descriptive (frequency, mean and standard deviation)
and inferential (Net Farm Income (NFI), Return Per Naira Invested (RNI), Logit model, Total
Factor Productivity (TFP), Foster, Greer and Thorbeecke) statistics. The USAID-MARKETS II
project employed several empowerment strategies towards improving the well-being and
productivity of farming households in the project sites. These include, supply of improved rice
seeds, fertilisers, training and extension support. The results that emanated from the study showed
that age, household size, extension visit, years in cooperative society, education and years of rice
farming experience were the significant factors that influenced participation in USAID-
MARKETS II in Ebonyi State. Results further showed that rice production is profitable in the
study area and there was no significant difference between the mean technical, allocative