The study assessed poverty in rural areas of Ogun State, Nigeria through the food energy (calorie) intake approach. A sample of 60 households (comprising of 346 members) were selected using a multistage sampling technique and were interviewed with the aid of well-structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using nutrient estimation techniques, cost of calorie method and poverty index. The estimated food poverty line was 64.72 naira. The incidence, intensity and severity of poverty were consistently higher among femaleheaded households and households that lack access to credit facilities with values 0.290, 0.359, 0.160 and 0.313, 0.371, 0.160 for the poverty measures respectively. Incidence of poverty reduces with educational level and age of household heads, but the corresponding intensity and severity were higher for households whose heads are between 46-and 55-year brackets and those who have secondary school education. All measures of poverty decline with farm size. Multipronged strategies involving improvement of educational level of household heads, improved access to agricultural land and credit facilities, as well as fair distribution of resources towards women, among others, are recommended for poverty and hunger reduction and for sustained agricultural production.

The paper tests the market integration of the main staple agricultural commodities in Oyo State. Monthly prices in N =/kg covering a period of 8 years (1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001) were obtained from Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADP) and analysed using the Ravallion Model. The study also calculated the Indices of Market Concentration (IMC) to measure the degree of spatial market integration. The IMCs for cassava, yam, white maize and yellow maize were 0.3074, 0.0814, 0.02712 and 0.1648 respectively. The IMCs imply high short-run market integration between the reference and rural markets. The market integration indices confirm that price changes in the urban markets (Bodija and Ilora) translated to changes in the price of cassava, yam, maize, yellow maize in rural markets (Akanran, Towobowo, Anko, Irepodun, Oje, Kajola, Akala and Aberu). It is concluded that agricultural commodity arbitrage is working. The degree of market integration can be enhanced by the provision of not only transport infrastructure but by provision of adequate formal marketing information and standardization of weights and measures in the system.

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