Determinant of agroforestry practices among small holder farmers in Oyo State Nigeria

Abstract

The multiplicity of agroforestry practices demand the choice of appropriate methods that will give the rural farmers an excellent result. Thus, this study analysed the factors determining the choice of agroforestry practices among small holder farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria. Primary data was obtained using multi-stage sampling technique. Structured questionnaire was administered to 250 selected small holder farmers to elicit relevant information and 211 was retrieved and used for this study. The findings revealed that most 55% of the farmers chose agrisilvicutural system while 33.2% and 11.8% of the farmers chose agrosilvopastoral and silvopastoral systems respectively. Most of the farmers were males 89.1%, with average age of 47years indicating they were relatively young with basic formal education. The average farm size of 3.34ha indicated that the study covered small holder farmers. The multinomial logit result showed that factors such as educational level, meeting attendance, type of labour used, household assets significantly determined the choice of agroforestry practices adopted by the farmers. The study therefore recommends the implementation of policies that promote more enlightenment on the benefits of agroforestry to both the educated and non-educated farmers to facilitate quick adoption, provision of incentives to farmers that attend meetings regularly and making available improved agroforestry methods and practices to enhance wider suitability of agroforestry practices.