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Resource allocation and productivity is an important aspect of increased agriculture production. This study therefore attempts to determine resource-use efficiency of small scale cocoa farmers in Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo state. Data were collected from 140 randomly selected cocoa farmers' using multistage sampling technique. The data were analyzed using descriptive and regression techniques. The result of the regression showed that exponential production function gives the lead equation among the functional forms. The coefficient of farm size or land input was positive and significant, indicating that cultivation of larger hectarage of land leads to increase in cocoa output whereas the coefficient for labour input was negative and significant, implying that increases in the use of labour input leads to decreases in cocoa output. The sum of the elasticity of production of the resources indicates an increasing return to scale in the area of study (0.96). This result further implies that an increase of 10% in any of the factor inputs would lead to an increase of 9.6% in cocoa output. There was disequilibrium in resource use, as the number of family members engaged in farming, land area cultivated on cocoa, cost of durable inputs, cost of non-durable inputs, amount of money spent on labour were used efficiently as against hired labour that was inefficiently used. In the nutshell, cocoa production is yet to attain an optimum level of combination of resources. Refocusing policies to enhance emphasis on efficient use of resources is recommended.

This paper evaluates the ex post impact of farmers' adoption of Root and Tubers Expansion Program (RTEP) on yield, crop income and poverty in rural Nigeria by means of primary data collected from 161 households in 3 local government areas in South West Nigeria. Using FGT poverty measures and propensity score matching techniques the study found that poverty incidence is higher by about 23% among non beneficiaries than among the beneficiaries of RTEP. Net yield per hectare increased by a range of about 13.00 to 18.52 metric tons while net crop income per hectare increased by a range of about ₦39,705 to ₦42,133 ($198-211) thus, reducing poverty by about 5 to 20%. The factors that positively influenced the probability of adoption of RTEP were: years of education, social capital, farm size and access to improved planting materials while planting of two or three root crops negatively influenced the probability of adoption of RTEP. Therefore, policy options that favor increased education, farmer group membership and access to improved inputs are recommended to encourage RTEP adoption and further reduce poverty among farmers.

Genetically Modified (GM) crops are crops modified through genetic engineering to improve their quality. Although safety concerns about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are still being debated, the food security benefits have led to adoption by many counties. In Nigeria, where most farmers are uneducated and likely unaware of the agricultural technology, the government approved its first biotechnology crop for commercialization in 2018. Level of farmers’ awareness is crucial to acceptance of GM crops, although; this has not been fully explored in the literature. Therefore, this study aimed to assess farmers’ awareness for GM crops and the factors that determine their awareness in Oyo state, Nigeria, using primary data collected in 2018 with the aid of well-structured questionnaires from 242 smallholder farmers. Principal component analysis and Tobit regression model were used for data analysis. Results showed that farmers were aged 43 years with farm size of 3.57 ha, farming experience of 14 years and 11 years of education. Most farmers were male (71.90%), married (67.36%), not members of farmer groups (64.46%) and sourced their seeds from non-credible sources (85.12%). Most farmers (52.07%) had either not heard of or did not know of any benefits/costs of GM crops, hence; were not aware of GM crops. Factors that influenced awareness of GM crops were being a male farmer, years of education and source of seeds. The study concluded that increasing years of education and ensuring use of credible seed sources will increase awareness of the costs and benefits of GM crops among farmers.

Beef demand among urban dwellers in Nigeria has grown overtime with increasing concerns for safety. Beef is commonly sold in open stalls where the risk of contamination is very high. Increasing the quality of beef and other beef products will require improvements on the management of abattoirs as well as inspection and certifications of beef quality. Such improvements will however come at a cost which consumers must be willing to pay. The study therefore assessed consumers' willingness to pay for safe beef in Ibadan Metropolis of Oyo State. Primary data was used for the study and obtained using well-structured questionnaires. Multi-stage sampling was used to select 150 beef consumers. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Heckman two-step regression model. Results reveal that majority of beef consumers (92%) are aware that beef sold in the open market may be contaminated while about 82% indicated their willingness to pay for safe beef. Beef consumers are willing to pay an average of ₦926.06 for a kilogramme of certified beef. Consumer's gender and awareness about safe beef significantly influence consumers' willingness to pay for safe beef. The age of the consumer positively influences the amount consumers are willing to pay for safe beef while the household size and frequency of purchase have a negative relationship. The study recommends increased enlightenment programs on safe beef, targeting females by entrepreneurs with respects to advertisements and sales activities while a mechanism of beef certification and quality labelling should also be put in place.