Comparative Analysis of the Technical Efficiency of Beneficiary and Non-Beneficiary Rice Farmers of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme in Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

The importance of agricultural technology in enhancing the welfares of farmers can be realized when yield gain from the technologies results in meaningful income gain. This article aimed to assess economic impact of improved soybean (Bellessa-95) variety on income among farm households in Bambasi District, BGRS. In this study a multi-stage stratified sampling technique was employed to select rural kebeles and households. Three rural kebeles were selected randomly. Structured interview schedule was developed, pre-tested and used for collecting the essential quantitative data for the study from 134 randomly selected households. Descriptive statistics and propensity score machining (PSM) models were employed to analyze data. Results of descriptive analysis showed that there were statistically significant differences between adopter and non-adopter households with distance to market, livestock ownership, and frequency of extension visit, farm income as well as number of oxen owned. Consistent with the findings of previous studies, regression results showed that adoption of improved soybean has a positive and significant effect on farm income by which adopters are better-off than non-adopters. Based on results obtained it is recommended to continuous training in improved soybean production. Promoting farmers to form or join cooperatives. Strengthening demonstration centers and Farmers Training Centers (FTC).Transaction costs should be reduced and scaling up and diffusion of improved soybean varieties in the study area should be broadened.

Distributional impacts of anchor borrower program on the welfare of rice farming households in Oyo State, Nigeria

“…Previous studies such as Ayinde et al. (2018) and Okeke et al. (2019) that report a significant average impact of ABP on the welfare of rice farmers are likely flawed due to the bias introduced by the duo problems of self-selection and endogeneity of ABP.…”

“…To our knowledge, no study has investigated the heterogenos impacts of ABP or any national development intervention across the distributions of welfare for farming households in Nigeria. Previous studies that assessed the impact of ABP on rice output (Obih and Baiyegunhi, 2018;Ayinde et al, 2018;Okeke et al, 2019) reported an average positive effect of the intervention. They, however, assumed a homogenous treatment effect of ABP which is usually not the case when treatment is not randomly assigned and also, in the event of imperfect targeting.…”

“…The results have shown that the increased yield recorded by ABP rice farmers was not significantly different from the yield of farmers that did not benefit from the ABP and hence cannot translate to better welfare for ABP beneficiaries as corroborated by the insignificant impact on PCE. Previous studies such as Ayinde et al (2018) and Okeke et al (2019) that report a significant average impact of ABP on the welfare of rice farmers are likely flawed due to the bias introduced by the duo problems of self-selection and endogeneity of ABP. This divergent observation may also stem from the difference in the study area.…”

“…To our knowledge, no study has investigated the heterogenos impacts of ABP or any national development intervention across the distributions of welfare for farming households in Nigeria. Previous studies that assessed the impact of ABP on rice output (Obih and Baiyegunhi, 2018; Ayinde et al ., 2018; Okeke et al. , 2019) reported an average positive effect of the intervention.…”

Water Use Efficiency and Productivity of Irrigated Rice Cultivation in Nigeria: An Application of the Stochastic Frontier Approach

“…However, rising demand has outpaced local production, making the country the second-biggest rice importer after China [13]. Although the government has been implementing several development programs to increase rice productivity and production, less work has been devoted to research and training to improve farming households' efficiency [14]. The average paddy production in rainfed, and irrigated agriculture is 2.0 and 3.5 MT/ha, respectively [15].…”