Impact of national special program for food security in Abia State, nigeria

Abstract

This study verified structures of major resources used by smallholder farmers participating in the interventionist programs of food security in Abia State, Nigeria. Data were collected from 90 resource-poor farmers from 2006 to 2010. These farmers were made up of 30 participants chosen from each of the three agricultural zones of the State following a random
process. Demographic and socio-economic variables were subjected to descriptive analyses and data on selected structure-defining variables smoothed in two years 2008 and 2010 to get rid of possible noise. Smoothed averages were subjected to paired treatment tests of difference. Results revealed significant differences in number of livestock kept, number of farm plots, size of farm land, borrowed capital committed to farming by participants and man-hour of hired labor used in farming in the area. Policy recommendations were proffered for effective and enhanced farm resource use to increase productivity.

Keywords: Structure, capital intensive, food insecurity, farm resource, farming system