Examination of the characteristics and causes of poverty is an important input into the design of economic policy and poverty alleviation programmes. This study assessed the poverty status of rural households in Ogun State, using the Asset Index Approach due to shortcomings of the conventional methods in poverty analysis. Relevant data were collected from a total of 260 households using a four-stage sampling procedure. The data were analyzed using principal component and ordered probit regression analyses (OPRA). The results showed that the OPRA, which significantly (χ2 = 135.20, p < 0.01) explained the probability of a household escaping poverty, revealed that the primary occupation of household heads and the educational status of household heads and their wives among others factors significantly affect the likelihood of escaping poverty. The study therefore suggested that the economic situation of rural households can be considerably enhanced by promoting member’s access to qualitative education and also by encouraging household heads who take up farming activities as their primary occupation to participate in credit associations, indigenous savings and micro financing so as to boost their farming. Therefore, rural development policies should be tailored towards developing these facilities.

The paper undertook an economic analysis of Ofada rice production in five prominent rice growing areas of Ogun State.  A two stage purposive sampling technique was employed to select a total of 120 rice farmers from five local government areas which are major areas known for Ofada rice production in the state. Primary data were collected for the study through structured questionnaire and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) among rice farmers groups in the study area. Analytical tools adopted for the study included frequency, percentages, gross margin analysis and profitability ratios. Results of the analysis showed that majority of Ofada rice producers in the study area are male (73.33%). In terms of age, more than half of the respondents fell within the age range of 41 -50 years (63.33%) these farmers were young and within their active productive lives. Results of the distribution of respondents by annual income in the study area revealed that majority of the respondents (60.83%) obtained an income of between ₦201,000 and ₦400,000.00 per hectare.  However, 22.50% of the respondents obtained an income of less than ₦200,000.00 per hectare. The gross ratio, operating ratio, return per naira invested and profitability index were calculated to be 0.95, 0.80, 1.90 and 1.80 respectively. The gross margin of rice production per hectare was also estimated to be ₦222,020.00. All these indicate overall profitability of the enterprise. However, an average low yield of 2.5 tonnes per hectare was recorded due to constraints encountered during production. Some of the identified constraints in the study area are lack of capital (25.83%), lack of tractor for land clearing (10.83%), lack of good farm roads (16.67%), and inadequate processing and storage facilities (11.67%). It is then recommended that access to adequate capital, mechanical equipment and other incentives through farmers’ cooperatives and government aid for construction of farm roads could help increase rice production in the area and this will in turn help Nigeria to achieve a much desired self-sufficiency in rice production.    

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The paper examines the relevance of geospatial maps and technics in execution of livelihood support projects among rural poor.  Previous attempts towards driving the poor along prosperity pathways in Nigeria have failed because of incorrect deployment of interventions in time and space. Global positioning systems and Geographical information systems were employed in this study to provide insight to the challenges faced by previous livelihood support projects in the country while also providing a robust spatial decision support system for geographical targeting of interventions to vulnerable households. The study selected 1,459 households from the 42,000 households adopted for the Feed the Future Project in 3 northern States namely; Sokoto, Kebbi States and the Federal Capital Territory. Acquired survey data were converted into GIS maps so as to expose hidden trends in the characteristics of target population and to suggest the best options for interventions. The data were subjected to spatial analysis such as simple distance analysis. The outcomes revealed 86% of sampled households to be largely below the poverty line. This is mainly due to poor access to facilities like health care, markets, good roads, agricultural inputs, agricultural information and advisory services. 10 % of children’s absolute score of Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) revealed acute malnutrition. 42 % of the household however now have stronger safety nets as a result of the interventions. The study found Spatial Information technology highly useful in social intervention project as the one by the Feed the Future project