Factors Influencing Livelihood Diversification among Rural Farmers in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria

Abstract

This research study was set out to analyze factors influencing rural farmer’s engagement in livelihood diversification in the study area. The specific objectives were; to identify the different levels of farmers’ engagement in livelihood diversification, determine the socio-demographic factors or forces that influence farmers’ decision for livelihood diversification, assess the respondents’ perception of poverty reduction due to livelihood diversification and to examine the effect of livelihood diversification on rural households’ income. The data for the study were collected through the aid of structured questionnaire administered to 120 randomly selected respondents. Data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, means and percentages, logistic regression model and Z-test statistic. The findings of this study reveal that majority (72%) of farmers in the study area were operating at a low level of livelihood diversification activities. It also reveals that majority (23%) of the respondents perceived poverty reduction due to livelihood diversification in terms of providing needed income. Furthermore, the logit regression model analysis reveals that among the socio-demographic parameters the age of farmers has greater (97%) commanding influence on farmers’ livelihood diversification activities. The finding of Z-test analysis shows that there was statistical significant difference between the mean incomes of diversified and undiversified farmers at 0.05 percent level of significance.