Article Sidebar
Article Details
Issue
Section
Articles
http://ajfand.net/AJFAND/copyrightstatement.html
Published material in the AJFAND is covered by copyright. Authors transfer all rights to the journal upon publication. The Editor-in-Chief should grant permission for use/reprint of any published material in AJFAND.
AJFAND is open access and published under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International license (see Copyright Statement on the AJFAND website).
Main Article Content
Sources of risk and management strategies among food crop farmers in Osun State, Nigeria
Abstract
Food production decisions in Nigeria are made mainly by small-scale farmers who face a number of risks. In response, farmers engage in some risk management strategies which may have social and economic implications not only on the farming households in particular, but the entire economy. This study identified the sources of risk and the management strategies employed by the food crop farmers. A two-stage
sampling procedure was used in the collection of primary data. The first stage involved a random selection of 30 farming communities from the three agroecological zones of the state’s Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) namely Ife-Ijesa, Osogbo and Iwo zones. The second stage involved a random selection of food crop farmers from each of the villages with probability proportionate to size of each farming community. Data from 165 respondents were used for the analysis. Primary data collected included sources of risk, other environmental factors and
management strategies employed. Secondary data were also obtained from Osun State Agricultural Development Programme (OSSADEP) records to complement the primary data. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and composite analysis. Sources of risk in the last three years were market failure, 54.5%; price fluctuation, 46.1%; drought, 32.7%; pest and diseases attack, 33.9% and erratic rainfall, 39.4%. Majority of the food crop farmers in the study area were in the medium risk category. The mean value of 2.68 (approximately 3.0) implies that an average food crop farmer experienced up to three different sources of risk in the study
area. Risk management strategies available to the farmers were extension services, 67.3%; access to fertilizer, 41.2%; mixed cropping/farming, 79.3%; cooperative society 54.5%, borrowing of money, 73.0% and off farm-work, 69.7%. Attention should be shifted towards protection of farmers against market failure and price distortion or fluctuations as these, among others could impair the growth potential of these farmers. Investment in irrigation projects by the government would also save the
farmers from drought and erratic rainfall while farmers are encouraged to benefit from the services of the agricultural insurance industry.
sampling procedure was used in the collection of primary data. The first stage involved a random selection of 30 farming communities from the three agroecological zones of the state’s Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) namely Ife-Ijesa, Osogbo and Iwo zones. The second stage involved a random selection of food crop farmers from each of the villages with probability proportionate to size of each farming community. Data from 165 respondents were used for the analysis. Primary data collected included sources of risk, other environmental factors and
management strategies employed. Secondary data were also obtained from Osun State Agricultural Development Programme (OSSADEP) records to complement the primary data. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and composite analysis. Sources of risk in the last three years were market failure, 54.5%; price fluctuation, 46.1%; drought, 32.7%; pest and diseases attack, 33.9% and erratic rainfall, 39.4%. Majority of the food crop farmers in the study area were in the medium risk category. The mean value of 2.68 (approximately 3.0) implies that an average food crop farmer experienced up to three different sources of risk in the study
area. Risk management strategies available to the farmers were extension services, 67.3%; access to fertilizer, 41.2%; mixed cropping/farming, 79.3%; cooperative society 54.5%, borrowing of money, 73.0% and off farm-work, 69.7%. Attention should be shifted towards protection of farmers against market failure and price distortion or fluctuations as these, among others could impair the growth potential of these farmers. Investment in irrigation projects by the government would also save the
farmers from drought and erratic rainfall while farmers are encouraged to benefit from the services of the agricultural insurance industry.
