Land ownership, cultural practices and cropping patterns among loan beneficiaries in Zamfara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was conducted to find out the system of land ownership, cultural practices and cropping patterns in the Zamfara State. Multi-stage sampling technique was used in selecting 200 farmers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square. The results showed that land acquisition by the respondents was mainly through inheritance which accounted for 86% of the total respondents. Informal loan beneficiaries recorded the highest percentage (88%) under inheritance followed by 14%, purchase with 13% for rent/lease arrangement and 19% under ‘others’ which includes gifts and borrowed land from friends and relations. The formal loan beneficiaries recorded the highest of 84% under inheritance, 27% under purchase and 20% under lease/rentals. The results of the study revealed that 61% and 36% of the formal and informal loan beneficiaries used tractors while 43% and 50% of the groups used animal traction, respectively. An assessment of the number of farm plots owned and cultivated by both the formal and informal loan beneficiaries generally ranged between 1-9 plots with an average of 5 plots for the two groups. Analysis of the farm size revealed that majority of the respondents (75.5%) owned less than 4 hectares of farmland. The formal loan beneficiaries recorded 29% and 36% for farm size ranges of 0.1 - 2 hectares and 2.1 - 4.0 hectares, respectively. The informal loan beneficiaries recorded the highest percentage of 45 under the 0.1-2.0 followed by 41% under the range of 2.1 - 4.0 hectares. Average farm size holdings of 2.35ha and 1.08ha were established for the formal and informal loan beneficiaries, respectively. Chi square test value found to be significant at P<0.01 between the two groups of respondents. It was recommended that government should open more arable land and distribute to farmers at affordable prizes.